Heres the results of the "Importance of honeybee characteristics", ranking the listed characteristics in descending order of importance. Rank was determined by the number of times the characteristic was a "1" or a "2" in the returned forms. I had planned to do more with the results but the response was not adequate. Number of responses - 38 Number of useable responses - 29 Who responded: Hobby beekeepers , <10 col. - 12 Sideliners , >10<300 col. _ 15 Commercial , >300 col. _ 2 Honey producers - 27 Pollinators - 6 Queen producers - 4 from: North America - 23 Europe - 6 U.S.A. - 19 Canada - 4 U.K. - 3 Germany - 2 other - 1 Characteristic Rank score Honey production 1 13 Varroa resistance 1 13 Tracheal Mite resistance 2 11 Winterability 2 11 Brood viability 3 6 Aggressiveness 4 3 Swarming (lack of) 5 1 Pollen 5 1 Chalkbrood 5 1 Comb Stability 6 0 Color 6 0