Hello All

I have recently come across the following headings used by a Queen Breeder
to assess his queens for breeding purposes.

1. Docility (non Jumping, Non Stinging, Non Following)
2. Steadiness On Comb (Absence Of Running)
3. Brood Pattern (Compactness Of Brood, Absence Of Empty Cells)
4. Pollen Storage (Pollen Packed Over, Around And Under The Broodnest)
5. Comb Building (Speed In Occupying Supers, Drawing Foundation, Honey
Storage    And Quality Of Comb Capping)

Each heading is given a rating of 0 to 5.

Strangely enough there is nothing in the list about foraging ability.

I wish to improve the standard of my bees, and to this end I intend to use
the above rating system next year, or any improvement on it suggested by the
list members.

Having gathered the information, I would imagine, that to turn it into
useful data for Queen Rearing, I would need to know which of the above
traits come from the Queen and which come from the Drone. I seem to remember
reading somewhere that docility comes from the drone. If that be the case,
then as far as docility is concerned, I should build up the drone population
of the docile hives, and rear the queens from a hive or hives having the
traits I require which are passed on via the queen.

Now I come to my list of questions!.

1. Is it possible to place either 'queen' or 'drone' to specify the source
of the trait, beside each of the 5 headings listed above?.

2. And from which side of the equation does foraging ability come?.

3. Are any of the traits obtained from both parents or is there an element
of chance in which side supplies a trait?.

4. And if there is an element of chance, how can I stack the deck as much in
my favour as possible?.

5. Does this scenario admit of such categorisation, or is it far from being
that simple?.

6. Can any study material (presumably on genetics as applied to honeybees),
be recommended, so that I can put the long winter evenings to good
beekeeping use?.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely

Tom Barrett
49 South Park, Foxrock
Dublin 18
Ireland
Tel + 353 1 289 5269
Fax + 353 1 289 99