>  the odds are against making the grade all the time.

I agree.  You are dealing with nature.  To give an example, how many horses
are bred form the best genetic stock and end up in tins of pet food?  It is
the same with bees.  You cannot get 100% great queens no matter what method
you are using.

> "Forget grafting, and unnecessary replacing unless you are sure it
> is worth the effort, and that will depend on your area and on honey
> prices".

As it is stated it depends on your area.  For me, as I have explained
before, and we seem to be going over old ground in the past week or so, walk
aways do not work for me.  My experience in my area.  However I would not be
bold enough to recommend that all should do my way.  I would recommend
requeening annually for those who migrate.  This is also recommended by many
successful beekeepers in our area so it is not a case of my trying to boost
queen sales for my own profit.  The queen lays for 12 months of the year and
in our area there are may pollen deficient flows worked.  From my
experience, I have left queens in hives past the 12 months, I normally
requeen in autumn (fall) as that is when I have spare queens for myself.  In
spring they do not perform as well as those hives that have been requeened
in autumn.  There are some exceptions with some new queens not performing
and occasionally a queen over 12 months old will perform satisfactorily.
But hey, as I said I am dealing with nature and I cannot expect to get
perfection in the performance of my queens.

> In my experience, in my area, there are only short periods where a queen
> gets to perform flat-out.

My experience is above and is different.

> IMO, at current honey prices, 'good enough' is a lower standard than it
> was
> when honey was two or three times the price.

Why accept a lower standard?  Even in the current situation with lower
prices, it is better to strive for the best and produce more honey with less
effort by keeping your standards high.  Sure you do not get the same price
but if you produce more for less effort, then you must be ahead financially.
Instead of becoming glum and accepting lower standards, have pride and keep
your standards up to what you expect.  Things will change.

> Opinions are not facts...

I agree and all that has been posted to date, with the exception of Medhat,
has been opinion.  Yes mine is opinion.

Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA

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