Breeder Queens

[nantmoel]

Its that time of year where we are all thinking about the new season. i was wondering has anyone on this forum purchased a 'Breeder Queen' to rear their own F1 queens? I have been actively contacting different breeders of 'Buckfast' bees to ask various questions regarding the feasibility of rearing my own. I would love to hear your comments and experiences of doing this.

 

[B+.]

I have been actively contacting different breeders of 'Buckfast' bees to ask various questions regarding the feasibility of breeding my own.

Rearing....yes.
Breeding.....no.

Not unless you have a lot more colonies or can work with groups of people who do.

I wouldn't dream of starting with a single "breeder" queen. Who says its a breeder? Based on what?
I start with groups of sister queens that were all mated to drones from selected mothers/grandmothers under controlled conditions and where I can look at performance figures going back many generations. Then, I put them through a series of tests lasting 1-2 years.....at which point, none of them may be good enough to breed from. If they are, I have one side of the pedigree. I have to do the same thing to get drone mothers/grandmothers. Oh...but, wait...these can't be related or you will get inbreeding. This means you have to have lots of colonies (or work with other people who have the same objectives you do). Then....you have to rear virgin queens and mate them under controlled conditions (I use instrumental insemination).
Then you start all over again with the next generation.

 

[nantmoel]

Rearing....yes.
Breeding.....no.

Not unless you have a lot more colonies or can work with groups of people who do.

I wouldn't dream of starting with a single "breeder" queen. Who says its a breeder? Based on what?
I start with groups of sister queens that were all mated to drones from selected mothers/grandmothers under controlled conditions and where I can look at performance figures going back many generations. Then, I put them through a series of tests lasting 1-2 years.....at which point, none of them may be good enough to breed from. If they are, I have one side of the pedigree. I have to do the same thing to get drone mothers/grandmothers. Oh...but, wait...these can't be related or you will get inbreeding. This means you have to have lots of colonies (or work with other people who have the same objectives you do). Then....you have to rear virgin queens and mate them under controlled conditions (I use instrumental insemination).
Then you start all over again with the next generation.

Opps Rearing not Breeding thats what I meant to post - I'll change it, thanks for the heads up.