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 ce=console&utm_medium=news&utm_campaign=cws *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm