1. Beebreeding in practice
Juhani Lundén
Lammi

2. General All hives must be managed the same way
breeders are (pre)selected according to individual results as well as daughters, sisters and parents results
sistergroup averages are specially important when selecting the droneline

4. Variation must be cared for
avoid inbreeding
use some mating system(circular, closed, choosing inside every line, free etc.)
look for solid brood patterns
Bees are very sensitive for inbreeding

6. Colour of bees colour must not be a selection criterium
colour can be used as a helping tool
colour has tendency to change towards more uniform when using mating control
all natural races have variation in colours

8. Specialities in beebreeding
1. haplodiploidy (has effect on):
evaluation of the drones
use of inbreeding
genetical healthyness improved

10. Specialities in beebreeding
2. Multiple mating system
all subfamilies have their impact on the haplotype of the colony
heterosis hard to detect without mating control
sistergroup averages must be used in selection
does the sperm of diffrent drones fully mix in the spermateca?

12. Specialities in beebreeding
3. Environmental variation is huge
from beeyard to beeyard
from year to year
percentace (%) of beeyard average
small beeyards make diffrencies seldom significant
heritability difficult to measure

15. Disease resistance breeding
To do:
stop using drugs
stop washing equipment
stop pampering (feeding, warming etc. )
use combs from dead hives
use black combs (too)
use only honey as feed when raising queens

17. Paradox in disease resistance
you cannot directly select for resistance to diseases and parasites you don´t have
heavy pressure of diseases or parasites causes heavy losses
with fewer hives only minor results
if resistance mecanisms/ elements of survival are not known, selection tests are useless

19. Tests needle test, freezing capped brood, counting varroamites
resistance mecanisms are various, one test will only mimic one of them (if any)
labour intensive
uncertain results

20. Results of breeding bees are easy to handle
averages are better, top performers less
bees don´t swarm
less work managing for honey production

22. Results of disease resistance breeding
defensive behaviour increases
bees have better smelling sence?
economical losses
beekeepers attitude towards diseases changes
the spreading and lethality of diseases changes?