buckfast f1s

[tony350i]

buckfast f1s, I take it that f1s means it is a cross, if so does it mean the queen is open mated,


Thanks

Tony

[ April 17, 2006, 01:45 AM: Message edited by: tony350i ]

[Ian D]

Hi Tony
Strictly f1 should refer to the crossing of 2 pure races,it's the same with plants.

But in beekeeping it has often come to mean daughters from a pure race queen open mated with what ever they come across.

This gives a trait known as hybrid vigour and this is the practice used by many comercial operations.

I have seen trial results showing f1 queens producing 30% more honey than there pure counter parts. However any further breeding from these f1 queens shows a distinct drop in proformance.


Regards Ian

[tony350i]

Thanks Ian,

I have 2 buckfast x cecropia queens coming in May,and the thing that I am concerned about is if I miss a supersede queen and what the out come off her mating with my mogul drones would be,
I can replace the queens each year but one thing I can not afford is bad tempered bees in the area I keep them,

But you know how it goes you hear some beekeepers getting really good honey yields and some that wont use them again because they turn mean.

But ive got to give them a try smile.gif , and if all goes well I will make all my increases with these queens,


Tony

[Ian D]

Hi Tony
Why not get yourself a pure breeder and try a bit of queen rearing. Then instead of buying them in you can breed from your own.

One breeder would cost you about the same as your 2 queens and you could raise as many as you wish.
You could also make a few nucs to cover winter losses or queen failures. Any surplus could also be sold to cover any out lay.

Breeding from these f1 queens is not to be advised IMO. As there are to many variables and you do not get consistant results. You may find once you are established that you get better results, with all your f1 hives producing pure queens and this may help if you can flood the area.


Regards Ian

[ April 17, 2006, 05:24 AM: Message edited by: Ian D ]

[tony350i]

What you say makes a lot of sense I will see if I can find out more on the buckfast x cecropia queens

Tony

[Ian D]

Hi Tony
Try this thread and check out the links.http://www.bbka.org.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=915

Keld Brandstrup does some good queens and his Island mated breeders are very good. The inseminated ones can be expensive.

Regards Ian

[tecumseh]

IanD adds:
I have seen trial results showing f1 queens producing 30% more honey than there pure counter parts. However any further breeding from these f1 queens shows a distinct drop in proformance.

tecumseh adds a bit of detail:
there is a rule of genetics which is called regression to the mean which IanD has described.