Hi Waldemar & All, > the better survivors fly less in the winter when the weather is marginal > I see you agree with me, some people do not see it this way. Up here where winters are long, snow can be on the ground six months out of the year, and temperatures that drop to -25 to -35 degrees F. for weeks at a time it is easy to weed out those that do fly and brood to early. They are simply to weak come first inspection or die out well before this. The very best of the survivors perform as Brother Adam describes below for the best part. Conservation of energy and stores are an essential characteristics and traits for me to breed a better bee for Alaskan conditions. Brother Adam sees these as hereditary so my goals should be within reach because I have seen these in the best and strongest survivors. Brother Adam on the link below writes about wintering and spring development; http://www.fundp.ac.be/~jvandyck/homage/books/FrAdam/breeding/partII85en.html#p4 Quote " 5. Hardiness and Ability to Winter Hardiness and the ability to winter well are linked to a number of other characteristics. Clearly any bee that quickly gets chilled when collecting water or pollen on sunny but cool spring days cannot be described as hardy. On the other hand, resistance to extremely low temperatures is less important. Good wintering is largely determined by an ability to survive over long periods on inferior stores without a cleansing flight and the reaction of a colony to sudden changes in temperature or to disturbances in general. The Carnica, for example, is inclined to fly on a bright day and a rise of temperature, when our own strain, in identical conditions, will remain completely inactive. Indeed our colonies appear as if dead from the beginning of November to the end of February, or until conditions for a satisfactory cleansing flight have arrived in spring. Any activity in inclement weather brings about a loss of energy in bees to no good purpose whatever, as confirmed in all such instances by practical experience. 6. Spring Development The next important matter is spring development. I hardly need to emphasise that the way in which bees develop in the spring, whether early or late, depends on a hereditary factor. In my experience which, of course, relates to the conditions prevailing in the south-west of the British Isles, the build-up in spring must occur without any stimulative feeding; it must not start before the weather conditions are favourable; once it has begun it must proceed uninterruptedly despite changes in the weather. The Anatolian bee, even when crossed with other strains, is ideal in this matter. Early breeders expend their stamina by flights in unfavourable weather and waste their energy in endeavours which bring no advantage and often, in fact, are positively harmful. It is well known that early breeders are more susceptible to Nosema than those which start breeding later. The latter nearly always overhaul the early breeders, and moreover at the right point of time, as they have not used up their vitality uselessly and inopportunely. The dwindling of colonies, which is constantly being reported on all sides, is very often the result of a premature spring build-up. What the modern beekeeper requires is a bee which needs no stimulative feeding but one which builds up in the spring spontaneously, on its own initiative. In this way he is spared all the dangers, the expense and the labour involved in an artificial development. Equally spontaneous must be the ability to maintain a correspondingly high degree of breeding until the end of the summer which guarantees a maximum colony strength of young bees for wintering and spring build-up." Unqoute . .. Keith Malone, Chugiak, Alaska USA, http://www.cer.org/, c(((([ , Apiarian, http://takeoff.to/alaskahoney/, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akbeekeepers/ , http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Norlandbeekeepers/ , http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ApiarianBreedersGuild/ -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---