Peter Borst continues the discussion concerning whether any of the breeding
programs have, in fact, developed a "better bee".

I can think of two situations where, IMHO, better bees have been developed
through management and breeding.

The first is the strain maintained by the Mraz family in North/Central
Vermont.  In some 60 years of beekeeping (father and son) they have
developed a bee that suits their climate, are superb honey producers, and
are relatively gentle.  They do not purchase queens and went through a
period of many years of culling to reduce aggression and increase
production.  The seven-month long winters, with annual low temperatures
of -30 degrees took care of the need to have bees that will survive low
temperatures.  (Last week they received approximately 18 inches of snow!)
For many generations they have made splits by the "walk-away" method, as
they feel their strain dominates the local environment.  A reasonably well
known queen breeder, Kirk Webster, located his operation nearby and says
that one reason is because of his respect for the strain developed by the
Mrazs', which dominates the area.

Another is the New World Carnolian, developed and maintained by Sue Cobey,
currently at Ohio State.  In the late 60's and early 70's the Carnolians
were not widely used in the US and Canada because of their aggression and
swarming tendency. During this time a Canadian breeder, Hastings, developed
several Carnolian strains that he over-wintered in single story hives.
Hastings was located north of the agriculture line in Saskatchewan, where
winter temperatures frequently fell to -40 and -50 degrees.  Not only did
these bees survive in unprotected single story hives with little food
(limited to what a single story could hold), but he managed to breed a
strain that would not swarm when given adequate room.  ("Adequate room" was
sometimes 5-6 medium supers before June 1, and twelve for an entire season.)
However, these bees were very aggressive and collected high amounts of
propolis.

Beginning sometime in the 1980's, Sue Cobey acquired several strains of
Carnolians, including the Hastings stock, and selectively bred for some 15
traits.  By then, instrumental insemination had been developed to the point
where it was possible to produce an instrumentally inseminated queen that
would have roughly the same life span and productivity as naturally mated
queens.  In addition, of course, Page and Laidlaw had published extensively
on honey bee genetics and methods of maintaining a closed breeding system
while avoiding deleterious inbreeding.

Today's New World Carnolians are very gentle and quiet on the comb, are
tremendous honey producers and, IMHO, are no more likely to swarm then
Italians.  They no longer have the tendency to plug everything, including
the hive entrance, with propolis.  Of prime importance to beekeepers in the
northern part of the country, they over-winter with only a few cups full of
bees and are very stingy with stores.  I can recall during the 70's and 80's
when annual wintering losses of 15%-25% were reasonably common.  Today,
assuming good mite control, winter losses seem to be less than 5% and I
wonder if the increased prevalence of New World Carnolians is not the
reason.

I, for one, believe that it is possible to develop honey bees that best fit
one's management and climate by rigorous stock selection.  (I do, however,
wonder if that is the best investment of one's time and energy compared to
purchasing queens from reliable breeders.)  I also think that persons such
as Sue Cobey have developed "better bees", and we all have benefited.



Lloyd
Lloyd Spear, Owner, Ross Rounds, Inc.  The finest in comb honey production.
www.rossrounds.com