Quote Originally Posted by Adam Foster Collins View Post
... I am wondering if it is wise to get a fairly wide variety of bees from a number of different breeders to provide the widest set of variables to begin with. And from there, select from surviving colonies...Adam
It would be great to see different opinions on that. My thinking (not knowledge) is that to increase diversity (more "good" genes available) we need (1) drones as a source of genes and (2) free mating with any queens, not breeders... We need also remember that if we are thinking about any genes, the way of "fixing" them in genome for future generations is through sexual reproduction (or artificial equivalent) - we need openly mated queens and swarms! Introducing the new queen every year works in opposite direction - all traits to be fixed in the past year will be eliminated and we need to start from scratch...

Very nice and informative discussion - thank you!