It's great that you are interested in queen rearing - I say read anything you can get your hands on, everything had a little different 'twist' or 'idea' that when you pick and choose, customizes your style and skill. Laidlaw has a very good book. But find one that fits your reading style, the concepts will feel more natural if your comfortable with how the book reads.
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On another note, I'd be a little cautious to quickly declare how superior a queen is.
First off, you're comparing against 3 other live colonies, and as many as 16 dead colonies.
That isn't very many live colonies to measure against, and dead bees are no competition.
Lets say in the wild that 1/2 of unmanaged colonies die from one cause or another.
Sixteen in half is 8, and 8 in half is 4.
You're not far off that mark, so survivability isn't really so superior in this case.
She just survived the odds, the kid of odds than any of the other hive could have had.
Supercedure of abandoned and feral hives plays a large part in survivability.
While late swarming is risky because it could result in low fall stores, it also breaks mite cycles at a critical time which in turn also dimishes the spread of many viruses transmitted by mites.
The management of stores is also a huge role.
You can have a colony that is superior in honey production, but if you don't manage supers, it's going to become honey bound, produce inferior amounts of brood, and fail.
Had you managed the super, you might have the best colony of all.
There are many factors that should be considered, but they can only be really measured with good management practices and periodic observation. To say a queen is great just becasue she lives today isn't sufficent enough to declare her great. (just maybe lower mantenance)
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Topic: Good queen rearing book? (Read 1435 times)