I was most interested to see Sid Pullinger's letter. I get more and more convinced of the value of requeening every year but keeping a few old ones for breeding. Stocks with young queens seem to come through the winter more safely, to build up better in the spring and above all to swarm far less than colonies with older queens. If one raises as many queens as possible one can get rid of the poorer ones and improve the stocks. It amazes me that so few beekeepers go in for raising a good supply of queens each year. It has paid me hands down.David Frimston