Breeding takes queen rearing a step further: not just producing queens, but choosing which genetics they come from.

A beekeeper who does this can visibly change the behaviour and resilience of an apiary within a few years.

What to select for

• Temperament: Behaviour on the comb, level of defensiveness
• Hygienic behaviour: How fast infected and dead brood is cleaned out
• Overwintering: Strength coming out of winter and stores consumed
• Swarming tendency
• Varroa reproduction: The rate of mite increase under the same conditions
• Yield and brood pattern

No records, no breeding

Selection based on memory is misleading. A simple scoring system is enough; by the end of a season it becomes clear which colonies are consistently good.

Measuring hygienic behaviour

A small patch of sealed brood is killed and the time the colony takes to clean out those cells is recorded.

Colonies that clean quickly are more resistant to brood diseases and partly limit Varroa reproduction. It is the single most useful indicator in breeding.

The drone side

A queen mates with many drones; half the genetics of her offspring comes from the drones in the area.

Selecting only the queen side does half the job. Leaving drone comb in selected colonies improves the local pool.

Controlling mating

• Open mating: Easy; the drone side cannot be controlled
• Isolated mating site: A location with no other colonies nearby
• Instrumental insemination: Full control; requires equipment and training

Inbreeding

Breeding continuously from your own line in a closed population raises the level of inbreeding.

In honey bees this has a visible sign: a patchy brood pattern. Under close inbreeding some eggs do not develop and the bees remove them.

Bringing in outside stock at intervals prevents this.

A realistic aim

For most beekeepers breeding is not a laboratory programme. Rearing queens from the best colonies and replacing the worst makes a marked difference within a few years.

Requeening a bad-tempered colony is the simplest and most effective step in breeding there is.