Peter L. Borst <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Breeding from the best is probably a good strategy if you are raising 
race
>horses or milk cows, but it may be a fatal mistake that the breeders of 
bees
>have been committing for decades

* One size does not fit all here. 
I would tend to think this should be of less concern for most smaller non 
commercial operations breeding in small quantities, perhaps by swarm 
impulse or splitting.

>> Some researchers are wondering if commercial honey bee stocks are based 
on
>too narrow a genetic base and that this makes them vulnerable to diseases.

* Holding up an example of poor breeding practices as an argument 
against ‘breeding from your best stock’ is IMO misleading to the readers.  
Large commercial operations face obstacles that smaller operations need 
not worry about.  That some comercial opperations have failed to adapt a 
breeding strategy to insure the genetic variation of their stock is a 
simply matter of poor management.  They still need to breed from their 
best stock, but not with a reckless lack of consideration for genetic 
variance.  

Best Wishes,
Joe

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