Queen Breeding Pedigree

[B+.]

In any sort of breeding programme, there is always a pedigree for both the dam and the sire. This is somewhat complicated by the polyandry (multiple mating) of the queen bee. However, the attached pedigree which is used by the German beekeepers assiciation (Deutscher Imkerbund or D.I.B) accommdates this very well. This is not very well documented (if at all) here in the UK (or, indeed, any of the texts I have read in English).

In the attached pedigree, the dam always has a suffix of "a" and the queens that provide the drones always have a suffix of "b". Witin each box, the following information is given:
a) Stockbook number ("zuchtbuch Nr" in German).
This is a unique reference number of the queen. It comprises a code for the national association, the breeders reference number, a sequential number for that queen, and finally the year in which she emerged e.g. 55-3-44-2014
b) Breeder ("Zuchter" in German).
This is a code comprising the National Association number and the breeders identification number. For example, I am a member of the Netherlands group which has a prefix of "55" (although this is changing to "NL-?" to allow subgroups within each National association) and breeder number "15". So, my queens would be prefixed by the code "55-15".
c) Address ("Wohnort" means "place of residence" in German)
d) Breeding licence reference
When a morphological assessment has been performed (based on a sample of 50 workers and 50 drones) a breeding licence, called a "Körchein", is granted. This confirms that the queens progeny conforms to the morphological characteristics of a particular race e.g. mellifera, carnica, etc.

1a will refer to the queen.
1b will refer to a number of daughter queens of 4a which are used to provide the drones at a mating station (or for instrumental insemination). On island mating stations, it is usual to see anywhere from 15 to 20 daughter queens used to provide enough drones.
2a is the dam that laid the egg that was nurtuted to becme the virgin queen referred to in 1a
2b refers to the group of daughter queens used to provide the drones (i.e. daughters of 6a) which mated with queen 2a.
4a refers to the tested queen (often 2 years old by the time testing has been performed) that laid the eggs that were nurtured to become daughter queens (1b) that are used to provide the drones.
4b refers to the group of queens (daughters of 6a) that mated with queen 4a.
etc.

The mating station ("Belegstelle") and the year is given under each pairing.

This is all part of a very comprehensive system used within BeeBreed and is referenced in Coloss (http://www.coloss.org/beebook/I/queen-rearing/4/1/4.1.2.-pedigree-data?searchterm=pedigree)

 

[B+.]

This is all part of a very comprehensive system

To illustrate the way this appears in BeeBreed, I have attached the pedigree of the dam used as the 2a (mother) queen in the NL line

 

[Finman]

.
What kind of selection work you make on this big program, when you evaluate features of your queens and colonies?

.

 

[B+.]

.
What kind of selection work you make on this big program, when you evaluate features of your queens and colonies?

.

The selection parameters are shown on Coloss (http://www.coloss.org/beebook/I/queen-rearing/4/1/3)

Essentially, it boils down to:
Honey yield
Defensive behaviour
Calmness during inspection
Swarming tendency
Varroa resistence
Disease resistence

Its a bit complicated because each sample is compared to a 5-year moving average for each trait. The main focus is on varroa

My reason for posting the pedigree is that we don't really have a very strong tradition of breeding for heritable characteristics in this country. As you have pointed out many times, selective breeding is rarely practiced because of the uncontrolled way in which hives are kept. The only way to practice selective breeding is to either use instrumental insemination or island mating stations.

 

[Finman]

Its a bit complicated because each sample is compared to a 5-year moving average for each trait.

That I would say real breeding!

What I have noticed in my Queen rearing, that hybrid vigour makes evaluation difficult. The mother hive is great, but when I take daughters, they can bee from edge to edge.

I understand the meaning of pedigree along years.

Once I had a great Elgon hive. I took 50 daughters but 80% was sensitive to chalkbrood. But the mother hive had no sign about chalk.

I mean, to evaluate features is not easy at all.
.

 

[Eyeman]

Essentially, it boils down to:
Honey yield
Defensive behaviour
Calmness during inspection
Swarming tendency
Varroa resistance
Disease resistance[/QUOTE


From our queen breeders shouldn't we all be demanding that varroa resistance is at the top of the list?

 

[B+.]

I mean, to evaluate features is not easy at all.
.

If you read german, the method is described very well in
"Selektion bei der Honigbiene" by Tiesler, Bienefeld & Büchler (http://fmraster.de/?product=selektion-bei-der-honigbiene)

 

[B+.]

From our queen breeders shouldn't we all be demanding that varroa resistance is at the top of the list?

Quite possibly.
I don't know what other breeders select for but, if you look at the pdf I posted in #2 of this thread, you will see that each trait is equally weighted, except varroa resistence which is assigned a weighting of 40% by default. Consequently, breeders who are members of BeeBreed are already selecting for varroa resistence.
It isn't as simple as that though. Nobody would want a varroa resistent queen that was susceptible to disease, swarmy, agressive and produced little honey. That is why, 2a and 4a queens should have a breeding licence (class A or Av on the Körchein) to show that they perform above 100% in at least 4 catagories.
Actually, it goes even further: breeding values are normally distributed with a mean of 100% and standardised dispersion of 10. 68% of all queens tested will have breeding values between 90% and 110%. 95% of all queens tested will have breeding values between 80% and 120. In a normal distribution, the remaining 5% will be divided equally between those colonies scoring less than 80% and those scoring above 120% (i.e. a selection difference of more than 20%). So, the ideal breeding material will appear in the top 2.5% of all colonies tested and have a breeding value above 120% for the trait(s) you are interested in. If you look at the pdf of the dam which I posted in #2, you will see that this 2a queen was exceptional.

 

[Finman]

.
Susan Colby started the breeding project "new world carniolan" 35 years ago. NWC queens.
There was an interesting criterium: Early build up and good tendency to forage pollen.

Pollen stores are essential part of early build up. It is way too to get over bad weather week without eating larvae.

And it seems too, that bee pollen is valuable marketing stuff nowadays.

That pollen foraging is rare in queen breeding.
.

 

[Finman]

From our queen breeders shouldn't we all be demanding that varroa resistance is at the top of the list?

That makes no sense and it will not succeed. Job is very difficult. You see yourself, how succesfull the goal has been after 20 years.

Only what you can do is to destroy your professional beekeeping business with that goal.

 

[Eyeman]

Only what you can do is to destroy your professional beekeeping business with that goal.

Maybe not in the wastelands of Helsinki.
I hear a number of professional beekeepers in the USA are making a living using varroa resistant bees.

 

[B+.]

That I would say real breeding!

There is an overview of the programme in English here http://www.beebreed.nl/abj-2008.pdf

 

[Finman]

Maybe not in the wastelands of Helsinki.
I hear a number of professional beekeepers in the USA are making a living using varroa resistant bees.

They do. Have you read how much varroa destroys hives in USA every year?

.you have selective reading skills.

 

[Finman]

.
Entomology vanEngelsdoph reports, that last year USA lost 44% of its hives.

He wrotes that most back yard beekeepers do not have any varroa treatments in their hives.

I think that backyards beekeepers believe that propaganda that USA has mite resistant bees? You just buy ... And do nothing.

 

[B+.]

.
Entomology vanEngelsdoph reports, that last year USA lost 44% of its hives.

The pedigree isn't concerned with ANY of this. It simply records the facts of the queens ancestry under controlled mating conditions. The stockbook records the results of the performance tests and disposition of the queens.

 

[Goran]

The more I read.. the less I know.. " Ignorance is bliss."
Thanx for your effort. Will have to reread much much slower..
Regards.

 

[B+.]

Each queen is accompanied by a breeding record card as proof of her lineage (see attached).
Both cards contain essentially the same information, although the grey card on the left is used by recognised breeders and members of breeding groups for pure race mating.

"LV" ("Landesverband") refers to the National assciation.
e.g.
DE-? Germany
FR-? France
NL-? Netherlands
BE-? Belgium
LU-? Luxembourg
SW-? Sweden
NO-? Norway
IT-? Italy
etc.

The year of the queens emergence is written alongside the word "Zuchtnachweis" (Breeding proof).

The full stockbook number ("Zuchtbuch Nr") including the national assciation and breeder number is given.
e.g. 55-2-73-2016 (http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/album.php?albumid=751&pictureid=3761)

Queens are marked ("Zeichen") with a numbered plastic disk on the thorax for identification. The colour and number are specified.

The number of generations bred ("generationsfolge") is also specified. By convention this is given in roman numerals with "I" being the first generation you might breed from a queen you acquire from another breeder.

The date of emergence ("Schupftag") is given. My queens all emerge in cages inside an incubator (http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/album.php?albumid=751&pictureid=3727) so I mark them with a numbered plastic disk (https://youtu.be/qOFyf93q9gk?t=1m30s) then introduce them into a nuc (sealed with a queen excluder if they are destined to be instrumentally inseminated) within a couple of hours.

The stockbook number of the 2a Mother queeen ("MutterVolk Zb Nr") and the race/line ("Rasse/Linie") e.g. Carnica-Celle or C-Celle for a pure Apis mellifera carnica from the Institut für Bienenkunde Celle. This will be signed by the breeder as an affirmation of the virgin queens origin.

In the mating proof section ("paarungsnachweis") the correspnding information is given for the drone side of the mating. Daughters of stockbook number ("Tochter von zb nr") will be given if a number of daughter queens are used to provide enough closely related drones, such as on the island mating stations. The drones grandmother (4a) will be specified here because 15-20 daughter queens are usually used on island mating stations. She will be chosen because she has high breeding values and is class A or Av (at least 4 categories above 100% on the breeding licence).

The date oviposition began ("Eiablage seit" or egglaying since) gives an indication of how quickly the queen mated. If the gap between the emergence and oviposition date is too long, it may also indicate the cause of subsequent problems during acceptance (e.g. rejection or early supercedure).

This will be authenticated with the official stamp of the mating station or signature of the person conducting instrumental insemination.

 

[B+.]

Thanx for your effort. Will have to reread much much slower..
Regards.

Sorry Goran. It is a very comprehensive system and probably wont be useful to hobby beekeepers. I really only posted this for those who are interested in learning more about the breeding side of things. It can take some getting used to, but, it's only because we aren't really familiar with this sort of thing here.
You can read more about it here (http://www.coloss.org/beebook/I/queen-rearing/2/2).

 

[beebreeder]

This website is a very similar setup but for the Buckfast strain again it takes some studying to get your head around it http://perso.fundp.ac.be/~jvandyck/homage/elver/

 

[B+.]

This website is a very similar setup

It seems similar but I've never been able to get my head around how you uniquely identify a specific queen i.e. how would I identify my number 59 in one year from your number 59 in the following year? There probably is a way to do it, but, its not immediately obvious to me.