I'm grateful for good work done by generations of breeders, and enthusiastic
about the promise of hygienic bees.  However, what we desire of bees is not
always uniform, and we don't always get what we want without side effects.
I have the European contingent of a U.N. of bees here and they're all
different,  useful, and nice.  For instance, my Cordovans make no surplus
honey but make loads of bees, but they are so good at nursing brood, and so
sweet to handle for these manipulations, that I will keep a colony of
Cordovans just to raise queens from brood of other stock, and for a ready
supply of bees and brood.  I have some Carniolans that make lovely sections
when others can make none, and they are gentle, but they learned to go
backwards through a triangle board escape like it wasn't there, and they are
the most opportunistic potential robbers in the apiary.  I have some
Caucasians (not all) that are so swarmy that they make juicy swarm cells
even in chilly late October, but they made more nice sections than two
average colonies, and do not get Varroa when their neighbors do.  I do only
sections for harvest, but keep some bees making winter stores on frames for
the section makers.  Must the stores makers be the same as the section
makers?  Mightn't one even breed a strain or two just for the type of
operations being done?  Should I avoid Cordovans because they don't make
much honey?  Should I breed stupid bees to make them robberless?  Is
swarminess the big issue for colonies making sections where I can't trust
any bees not to swarm anyway?  Granted, these characteristics might be
anathema in a different operation. Breeding is like any other endeavor: the
larger challenge is understanding both extensively and intensively what we
wish to accomplish; the smaller challenge is breeding the bees.

Bill Morong