Last week I had the opportunity to do some hygienic testing of breeder queens with Dr. Lynn Royce. This means that we kill a set amount of brood in the comb, and put the comb back into the hive. 24 hours later, we take the frame out of the hive and count how many of the dead brood the bees have removed. If they remove 90-100% of the dead brood, they are considered very hygienic. 70-80% is considered a good start to breed from, with the goal of breeding daughter queens who do better than their mothers.