Madeleine notes difficulties with queens and wonders about experiences
elsewhere.
 
I do not know if you have picked up on it, but this is a major problem in
the US.  One university has done a reasonably comprehensive investigation of
the quality of queens being shipped from breeders.  Before I comment some on
this, let me say it is my impression that beekeepers in the US purchase many
more queens (compared to raising their own) than do beekeepers in Europe.  I
commented on this to a commercial beekeeper in France and he thought it was
because our queens cost $8-$12 and said queens in Europe were generally
twice as expensive!
 
No one really seems to know what is causing the US problems with queens.  It
is not unusual for a commercial beekeeper to purchase and mark several
hundred queens and have them all superceded by the end of the season.  I
personally know of one commercial beekeeper that lost 2,000 queens within 30
days of introduction.  In relative terms, hobbyists have the same
difficulty.
 
Some interesting observations have been made:
1. By attaching micro chips to cages, researchers have learned that in her
24-36 hour journey from a breeder to a beekeeper a queens have been
subjected to temperatures ranging from 20 degrees (while in an airplane) to
over 100 degrees (-7C to 38C) and still arrived alive!
2. Many queens had sperm loads of less than 50% of optimum.
3. Frequently queens had high tracheal mite infections.
4. Nosema infections were sometimes high.
5. No queens were found with varroa.
 
Unfortunately, similar studies of a wide range of queen breeders have not
been done in the past, so there are no baseline data for comparison.   My
understanding is that there is some suspicion that queen breeders have
unknowingly relied on feral drones to properly inseminate their virgin
queens and that the cumulative effects of varroa might have left breeders
without sufficient drones.  I have heard it said that at least 100 drones
are required for each virgin queen.  (While she might only mate with 10,
allowances have to be made for drone swarms chasing other virgins, drones
being eaten by birds, etc.)
 
There is also concern that fluvalinate might have accumulated in brood comb
to an extent that it is having an adverse effect on drone sperm counts.
There is also speculation that tracheal mite infections of virgin queens
might be limiting the length and/or the number of mating flights.
 
Clearly, we are having the same problems in the US as Madeleine is reporting
in England.  As far as I know, no one has yet determined  why .
 
Lloyd
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Owner, Ross Rounds  the finest in comb honey production.