Keqwow is right on about Laidlaw & Page's
Queen Rearing and Bee Breeding, which is the best. I have read all 3 books mentioned - Eckert & Laidlaw's
Queen Rearing, and Harry Laidlaw, Jr.'s
Contemporary Queen Rearing. All are helpful, but if I was going to get one, it would be QR&BB.
Another one, if you are into the genetics side of it is by Dr. Ernesto Guzman-Novoa. The title is
Elemental Genetics and Breeding for the Honeybee. Available from Paul Kelly, the University of Guelph, Honeybee Research Centre, School of Environmental Sciences, 50 Stone Rd. East, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, NIG 2W1 ($20.00 + shipping - contact them for shipping), or through
www.ontariobee.com/outreach/manuals-books-dvds ($20.95 + GST)
Also helpful are: Brother Adam's books -
Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey,
Breeding the Honeybee, and
In Search of the Best Strains of Bees (available through Buckfast Abbey's bookstore); Dr. Lawrence John Connor's book,
Queen Rearing Essentials (available through Wicwas Press), and a neat little book titled,
Introducing Genetics, by Steve Jones and Borin Van Loon, which is not about bees, but gets your genetics up to speed rather painlessly.
Other good information is in Dr. Susan W. Cobey's website,
www.honeybeeinsemination.com, particularly the articles about the Cloake Board method, and the 21-page article comparison of studies regarding instrumentally inseminated queens vs. naturally-mated queens, which gives an excellent peek into proper vs. improper practices in queen rearing, queen banking, and other practices invoving queen performance. HINT: READ THOSE ARTICLES!
Tom & Suki Glenn have retired, but their website is still maintained - they produced I.I. queens for 35 years.
www.glenn-apiaries.com Many, many excellent articles.
Ed - Thank you for the link to Larry Connor's Feb, 2006 article in Bee Culture. That's a good one!