Queen Breeding

Queen breeding is the work of improving a bee stock from generation to generation by identifying the best colonies in the apiary through records and tests and rearing new queens only from those colonies. The aim is to obtain calmer, healthier, better-wintering and more productive colonies. Even a hobby beekeeper can see a clear difference within a few years with a simple record system and the right requeening.

What is queen breeding, and how is it different from queen rearing?

Queen rearing is the technique of producing queens: grafting larvae, cell cups, mating nucs. Breeding (selection, choosing breeder stock) is the job of deciding which colony's larvae and which colonies' drones to breed from. However good the technique, a larva taken from a mediocre colony gives a mediocre queen.

In the honey bee, a colony's behaviour, health and productivity are largely determined by the genetics of the queen and of the drones she mated with, because all the worker bees in the colony are that queen's daughters. When you replace the queen, the colony's character also changes within a few weeks.

Why breed queens?

• Calm, workable colonies: Inspections are shorter, there are fewer problems with neighbours and less need for protective gear.
• Resistance to diseases and pests: Colonies with strong hygienic behaviour are more resistant to chalkbrood and brood diseases; lines that partly limit the reproduction of Varroa destructor can reduce the need for treatment.
• Local adaptation: Local races and ecotypes adapted to a region's climate and flora (e.g. the Caucasian, Anatolian and Carniolan bee) are preserved and strengthened by the right selection.
• Low swarming tendency and good wintering: Colonies that swarm less and come out of winter strong are the soundest basis for yield.
• Less dependence on outside sources: A beekeeper who multiplies their own good line relies less on the risk and cost of bringing in queens from far away every year.

Which traits are assessed in breeding?

Breeding goals vary from beekeeper to beekeeper; even so, most programmes monitor the same basic traits. How each is measured is explained in detail on the relevant sub-pages.

How do you breed queens, step by step?

1. Set a goal: Write down what you most want to improve. Aiming at more than two or three traits at once slows progress.
2. Keep records: Give every hive and queen a number; write scores under the same headings at every inspection. There is no breeding without records; memory exaggerates last summer's good colony.
3. Compare under fair conditions: Assess colonies in the same apiary, in the same hive type, at similar strength and with the same management.
4. Test: Apply measurements such as the hygienic behaviour test and varroa counts to all colonies in the same period.
5. Select breeders: Set aside as breeder colonies a few colonies that have been monitored for at least a full year (including wintering) and have consistently come out well.
6. Think about the drone side: Give drone comb to the selected colonies; if possible, use an isolated mating area or instrumental insemination.
7. Evaluate the offspring: Monitor the colonies headed by daughters of the queens you produced using the same criteria; this is where the true value of the line shows.
8. Requeen the weak: Replace the queens of the lowest-scoring colonies with queens from the selected line.

Why is the drone side half the job?

A young queen mates in the air, away from the hive, with an average of 10–20 drones. Half of the worker bees' genetics comes from these drones. With open mating you cannot know the father's side; even the best breeder queen may mate with mediocre drones from the surrounding area.

That is why there are three routes in breeding:

• Open mating + drone saturation: Rearing plenty of drones in selected colonies to tilt the local drone pool in your favour.
• Isolated mating area: Keeping only selected drone colonies in places with no other colonies around, such as islands or high valleys.
• Instrumental insemination: Inseminating the queen in the laboratory with semen from specific drones; it gives full control but requires training and equipment.

Common mistakes in breeding

• Selecting on one season's yield: The hive that gave the most honey that year is often one that was well placed or did not swarm; it may have no genetic superiority.
• Relying on a single breeder: Always breeding from the same queen leads to inbreeding problems and spotty brood within a few generations.
• Deciding before seeing the wintering: A colony that looks strong in summer can weaken in winter; a breeder should have come through at least one winter.
• Unfairly culling a weak colony: Weakness after disease, queenlessness or splitting is not a genetic defect.
• Bringing in random queens from distant regions: This can upset local adaptation, and in hybrids bad temper can increase in the second generation.

How much breeding can a hobby beekeeper do?

A laboratory-level programme is not necessary. Even in an apiary of ten to twenty hives, the following routine changes the character of the apiary within a few years: scoring every hive, rearing queens from the best two or three colonies, giving drone comb to those colonies and requeening the worst colonies. Several beekeepers in the same area selecting in the same direction improve the drone pool together; this is covered on the "Breeding Programmes and Cooperation" page.

The sub-pages of this section deal separately with pedigree records, performance testing, the hygienic behaviour test, genetic selection, mating control, resistance, behaviour and productivity breeding, and selecting breeder colonies. For production techniques such as grafting larvae and caring for queen cells, see the "Queen Rearing" pages.