In a message dated 2/9/01 8:50:37 PM Pacific Standard Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:

<<   Such a temperament of hard working with placid behaviour must
 constitute some evidence for merit in this breeding method.  Let's hear
 other evidence.>>

     Letting the hives raise queens from the eggs is not at all uncommon,
Robert. But each situation has to be analyzed according to the situation at
hand. A friend of mine, back in the days when the woods were full of wild
bees, raised thousands of nucs that way, here in South Carolina, selling many
of them to other beekeepers up north. The problem with this method was that
the wild bees were mostly descendants of the old German bee that the pioneer
beekeepers kept. He wound up with hives that gradually got meaner and meaner,
as they repeatedly crossed with this temperamental bee. He began to get a
reputation for mean bees, and this began to hurt his nuc sales. Eventually he
had to make his nucs with commercial queens.

    Today, he probably could return to this method, as the wild bees have
been pretty well cleaned out by mites and clear-cut logging. It would be
possible to better control the drone population around the queen mating sites.

        << I trust the US experts will let us have full criticism of the
 Pauper's Split, >> (some snorting and blowing deleted)

    Robert, I think the discussion will go better, if you don't come to the
table with a chip on your shoulder.

         <<What think ye of the Pauper's Split? >>

     It probably will get more common, as more of us become paupers.   ;o)

     Actually, it is not uncommon now.  I have raised a lot of queens from
eggs. I prefer to use swarm cells over eggs, as much as I can. As others have
mentioned, there is a long wait when you start from the egg. I used to graft
and select a lot more than I have in recent years. Some folks have claimed
that using swarm cells will propagate the swarming urge, but I think the
advantages outweigh the faults. Swarm cells are always well fed, and I
suppose well selected by the bees. I have seen enough weak and sickly bees,
that, when I have bees that want to swarm, that is the kind of strong stock I
want.  I do make an effort to keep bees with a nasty temperament or bees that
are prone to illness from raising drones. Otherwise a lot of the selection is
just simply from raising bees only from good stock. Bees are weak or nasty
get queen cells from better hives.  I try to buy a few queens from an
excellent breeder each year to keep some new blood coming into the operation.

Dave Green
The Pollination Home Page:  http://pollinator.com