Really? Something new to me.........Queens that chilled during their growth phase turn darker than the breed usually is. So if you usually have queens in light colour, and you get a dark queen from a light coloured mother, you may have a queen that was grown up too cold.
update: I have mutt bees, I bought extremely dark bees from one supplier claiming it was Russian Stock and unknown breed bees from another supplier which looked like typical Italians. Why it's so dark I'll never know but I do know it's pumping out eggs like crazy in a textbook pattern, the hive is extremely gentle and average productive, it's definitely a keeper!Queens that chilled during their growth phase turn darker than the breed usually is. So if you usually have queens in light colour, and you get a dark queen from a light coloured mother, you may have a queen that was grown up too cold. It is a possibility. So although they look nice, they may fail to buildup a strong colony and keep it going strong for a longer time. So watch closely.
Is there a reference for that?Queens that chilled during their growth phase turn darker than the breed usually is.