This raises some interesting questions.

Bees seem to be very aware of their queen's 'quality' (if that is the right word) and will sometimes supersede queens that look good to the beekeeper.

If queens from grafts are seen by the bees as inferior, could this explain the frequent supersedure or failure of bought in queens which has been reported on Bee-L?  For some time I have wondered why this phenomenon seems to be more frequent in the US than here in the UK, but perhaps  more US beekeepers buy in queens than we do over here.

Are the number of ovarioles linked to the amount of queen pheromone produced?

Best wishes

Peter 
52°14'44.44"N, 1°50'35"W

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