Breeding Programmes and Cooperation

Breeding programmes are organised forms of cooperation in which many beekeepers work together within a framework of common goals, standard tests and shared records to improve their bee stock and conserve local races. Because a queen mates with the drones in her surroundings, serious breeding almost always requires cooperation. Protected mating stations, shared test apiaries and breeding value estimation are the basic tools of these programmes.

Why can't queen breeding be done alone?

However well a single beekeeper selects, they run into three limits:

• The drone side: A queen mates with drones from all the apiaries within a few kilometres; any trait gained is diluted by the genetics of the surrounding area.
• Small population: Continually breeding from your own line with few colonies increases inbreeding and leads to brood losses.
• Limited testing capacity: To see the true value of a line, its daughters need to be tried in different places.

Regional cooperation overcomes all three limits together: beekeepers selecting in the same direction improve the drone pool together, prevent inbreeding by exchanging lines, and share testing.

How does a breeding programme work?

Most successful programmes have a similar structure:

1. A common goal: Which race or line is to be worked on, and for which traits, is set down in writing.
2. Standard testing: All participants use the same criteria, the same scoring scale and the same testing calendar.
3. Shared records: Test results and pedigree information are collected in a single database.
4. Breeding value estimation: The value of each queen is estimated using the results of her relatives as well, with differences between apiaries corrected.
5. Controlled mating: The best lines are mated at protected mating stations or by instrumental insemination.
6. Distribution: Selected breeder queens go to multiplier producers, and from there to beekeepers.

This structure often resembles a pyramid: at the top a small number of core breeders carry out testing and selection; in the middle multiplier producers raise queens from these lines; at the base beekeepers use these queens and give feedback.

How are protected mating stations run?

Only selected drone colonies are placed at sites such as islands, high mountain valleys or the middle of large forests with no other colonies around. Participants bring their queens to the station in small mating nucs; the queens will very probably mate only with drones of the selected line.

Running these stations requires close coordination: which line is to be used for the drone colonies, who brings nucs and when, checking the nucs for disease and mites, and making sure there are no unauthorised colonies nearby. In some countries the surroundings of these stations are protected by law.

Why do shared testing and records matter?

Data from different beekeepers can only be compared if collected with the same method:

• The same criteria and the same scoring scale should be used.
• Test conditions and calendars should be similar.
• The pedigree of every queen should be recorded.
• Sister queens should be distributed to more than one test apiary.

The last point is the programmes' most powerful tool. When daughters of the same breeder are tested in different beekeepers' apiaries, the value of the line emerges independently of the conditions in any one apiary. In some programmes, colonies from different lines are compared under the same conditions at a shared testing station.

What examples of breeding programmes are there around the world?

• Shared breeding value systems: In Central Europe, breeders in many countries enter their test results into a shared online database; the system calculates a breeding value for each queen. Several races, above all the Carniolan bee, are being bred systematically in this way.
• Combination breeding: The Buckfast bee, developed in the 20th century by Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey in England by combining different races, is the best-known example of a line created by planned crossbreeding and selection.
• Varroa resistance programmes: In the USA, VSH lines and resistant lines of Russian origin have been developed through cooperation between public research institutions and beekeepers, and spread through networks of producers.
• Local race conservation groups: In many parts of Europe, volunteer groups have set up shared mating stations and record systems to conserve the endangered local dark bee (Apis mellifera mellifera).

Conservation of local races and breeding in Türkiye

Türkiye is one of the richest regions in the world as far as honey bees are concerned. Besides the Anatolian bee (A. m. anatoliaca), the Caucasian bee (A. m. caucasia), the Syrian bee (A. m. syriaca) in the south-east and Carniolan-influenced populations in Thrace, there are many region-specific ecotypes. This diversity is a valuable gene pool that has adapted over a long time to the local climate and vegetation.

• Gene centres: To conserve the Caucasian bee in pure form, the provinces of Artvin and Ardahan have been declared gene centres, and bringing in bees from other regions into these provinces is prohibited.
• Public research: The Apiculture Research Institute in Ordu and universities work on the characterisation and breeding of local races and ecotypes and on the production of breeder queens.
• Beekeepers' associations: Regional associations can provide a natural umbrella for shared queen production and record keeping.

Uncontrolled movement of queens and bees and random crossbreeding dilute this pool. Before bringing in queens from a distant region, looking into the possibilities of working with local lines is a sounder path for both your apiary and your region.

How can a small-scale beekeeper contribute to a breeding programme?

There is no need to set up a programme; there are simple ways to contribute:

• Joining a regional programme, or buying registered queens from one.
• Raising queens from your own best colonies and requeening the worst.
• Leaving drone comb in selected colonies.
• Keeping records on a standard scale and sharing the results.
• Scoring queens sent to you for testing with the same care.

When several beekeepers in an area select in the same direction, the drone pool improves for everyone; progress that would take years alone is shortened.