I agree a varroa tolerant bee is needed for Australia but we can't paint 
with too broad a brush. I tested queens from browns Bees for varroa 
tolerance and found in both the Italian and Buckfast lines.

Terry Brown had imported varroa tolerant queens from France & Italy. Dann 
Purvis traveled to Australia and set up a closed breeding instrumental 
insemination program based on varroa tolerant bees.

Dann was getting ready to ship queens from his Gold Line survivor hives when 
the border closed to U.S. queens. The product of many years of breeding.

Terry Brown has made three trips to the U.S. to visit me and learn the ways 
to not lose half (or most) your bees when varroa is found. Terry's son was 
sent to France to work in a queen breeding program based on varroa tolerant 
bees.

If I lived in Australia I would try to buy queen stock from Terry. The 
shortcut to varroa tolerant bees.

Smart commercial beekeepers plan for the worst scenario and hope for the 
best.

Varroa has put  higher numbers of beekeepers out of business than floods, 
droughts or other problems.


Find varroa early. Not after been in your operation three years (like in 
Hawaii).

Be prepared ! Get control products approved and in place.

bob


http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newscategoryid=2&newsstoryid=9486&utm_sour
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