Hi! > Queens made well locally always blow the doors off shipped queens, > if the queen producer knows how to make queens. > Sure its great to use good stock in a breeding program, but a poorly made > blue -blood queen is never a match for a well fed, well mated local queen. > The optimum queens are made well from good stock! How does one recognise an "optimum queen"? does one assume, from her lineage (and selection programme) that she should be good, or is there something one looks for in an emerging queen? what is the definition of an "optimum queen"? cheerio, nikite ----- Nikite Muller - Department of Zoology - University of Fort Hare P. Bag X1314 - Alice 5700 - South Africa E-mail: [log in to unmask]