[While this is not new, it reinforces the practice of progressive beekeepers to replace queens annually. Queen bees do their best work the first year. While some queens do well subsequent years, the law of diminishing returns applies. The ultimate question boils down to the cost/benefit ration. E.g., is it cheaper to buy a new car to avoid repair costs or drive a beater which is in the shop half the time. PLB]



Interesting theory,  but not quite acuarate.  Older cars are not usually in the shop more by any stretch. They can be a much better value, I speak from experience,  my daily driver has almost 400k on it,  and only put 1 fuel pump in it in the last 10 years, 

But back to bees.  By continually replacing and using those often replaced queens for breeders of drones and donor mothers,  are we destroying the the genetic of the "longer lived" queen lines we keep searching for?

Charles

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