>> The regular selection of decent queens off good strains, mated to the
>> locally active drones (the vast majority of queens are still open
>> mated everywhere I have heard of), in local conditions, should, if
>> done annually, accelerated the adaptation of the bees to the local
>> conditions.

We are talking about *entirely* different ways of operating, on vastly
different scales, in very different regions.  What may be a primary concern
to some, such as raising one's own stock, may not be of any interest or
value to others.

Some, or even many, of the beekeepers who replace all their queens every
year may, or may not, raise their own -- or even get them from a supplier
within 1,000 miles of their operation.  Moreover, their operation may move
thousands of miles over a year, and the owner and his crews may be a
thousand mles from some of the hives at any given time.  There are no 'local
conditions' in such an operation.  Not for long, anyhow.

How the bees can adapt to that, I don't know, but Florida queen supplier
Dave Miksha says that his customers buy his queens because they withstand
constant moving, and still perform.  Some queens don't like being moved
constantly.  I can attest to that.  I assume that he gets exceptional queens
fed back to him from customers, to use in breeding.

> I agree that some breeding should be done every year, but only to the
> extent of replacing those that are judged to be poor, not replacing
> every queen.

Those who replace all queens every year are not breeding, they are producing
honey and pollinating.  Many do not raise any queens, intentionally anyhow.
They buy what they need from proven suppliers who specialize, at a time of
year when the supplier can supply, and when the beekeeper has the staff and
the bees in a place where it can be done.   You can't just stick in a queen
here and there any old time and expect the kind of results you can get, and
need, if you were to do it the right way, at the right time.  We've covered
that here before.

Those who replace annually have their good reasons for replacing the queens
when they do, the way they do, or they would not do it.  They are good
businessmen and don't waste time or effort, if they can help it.  Requeening
as hard work, and expensive.

They requeen routinely for number of reasons, among which are:

1.) Many of these beekeepers are in the South, where one non-stop year in
the life of a queen is like three years in the life of a queen in more
northern areas.   Riding on trucks tends to make queens disappear.  Not
necessarily immediately, but within a month or two.  To add to wear and
tear, many push their queens with patties and syrup to have them ready to go
to the next job, or make package bees for sale.

2.) These beekeepers are seeking the fast buildup and big populations that
young queens are known for.  Many are paid by the frame for pollination, and
older, more conservative queens cost them money.  Some sell package bees at
some point in the year, and need highly prolific queens.

3.) They also like to have uniform hives for easy management, and
supercedure queens can lead to variable hives.  In their travels, they can
pick up some bad characteristics (AHB?) if supercedure queens are allowed to
continue.  Regular requeening can forestall that.  Additionally, if a
beekeeper is using hygienic stock, supercedure queens prove susceptible, and
cause breakdown with disease.

4.) Migratories, in particular, cannot afford swarms, for numerous good
reasons, and young queens throw fewer swarms.

5.) From experience, these beekeepers know statistically that, as queens
age, they fail.  Large commercial beekeepers are set up to do things in
batches for efficiency and uniformity, not to deal individually with each
hive; if they know that a certain number of queens will fail by a certain
time, they premptively replace them all, at their own convenience, so that
when they go pollinating, they are not embarrassed by an inspector or grower
finding hives in various stages of supercedure and/or apparent
queenlessness.

6.) Some beekeepers just go through their whole outfit annually and make up
new colonies from the old, redistributing everything and replacing all
queens.  That way they know what they have, and it is all the same.  Horace
Bell does that, from what I hear, and, last I heard he has about 35,000
hives, scattered around the country.  Therfore, it must work.  Buddy Ashurst
does something like that too.  These guys are pros.

> I find it bizarre that anyone would consider replacement of all
> queens in one go... That really is throwing the baby out with the
> bath water, all the heritage in the drones of the stocks that were
> best suited to the conditions are wiped out, how does that benefit
> the beekeeper or his future stocks?

I think we can see that is of no concern to these big beekepers.  There are
many degrees between these commercials who run up and down the Interstates
in America, and a beekeeper with a few hives for pleasure somewhere on a big
island in the North Atlantic.  Bizarre or not, as demonstrated above, we are
all in very different realities, with very different goals and methods.
Nonetheless, we are all beekeepers of some sort, and getting together on a
list like this is very educational.

After all, to much of this planet's population, beekeeping is bizarre.

allen
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::