George said:
You have mentioned my name FAVORABLY, and I THANK YOU; and hence I am
writing.

Always remember BEE-L is a discussion list and a single opinion hardley ever
stands alone on a list of over a thousand beekeepers ,researchers
etc..(Bee-L is to my knowledge the largest beekeeping discussion list in the
world)

None of us would ever want to disrespect you George but I need to comment on
a couple of the points you raised.


> He ordered Italians for me in 1933, and I did pretty good with them for 15
years.

I honestly have to take lightly your comments about the Italian bee because
in your own words you have not had an Italian bee around your yards for over
50 years.
Comparing the Italian bee which was around over fifty years ago and the bee
the commercial beekeeper uses today is like comparing a model T. & a new
thunderbird.

>In 1948, Steve Taber persuaded me to switch my 20 colonies to Carniolans,
pointing out that they raised brood 3-4 weeks ahead
of Italians in the Maryland weather and would have a much bigger force of
foragers who would be ready for "nectar collecting" by April 15th.  He was
RIGHT!

I am going to have to be honest George .  I see plenty of good and bad with
both the carniolan & the italian bee as all commercial beekeepers do. I use
both races. In Maryland the
carniolan bee could (and possibly is ) your best choice.

In the U.S. the carniolan bee runs a close second to the Italian bee with
commercial beekeepers (or beekeepers which keep bees for a living or
sideline ).  The popularity of the carniolan has increased due mostly to the
excellent work of Steve Tabor, Sue Colby and the Ohio Queen breeders years
of II work and selective breeding within a closed system.

I often wonder what the Italian bee might have evolved into if Ohio queen
breeders had put as much work into the Italian bee as they did the carniolan
bee. Hmmm.

I thank my friend Charlie Harper for taking the time to update the Russian
bee program information. I come from the "show me state" and I need to be
shown. It is very hard to get me  behind a new idea unless you have got a
sound idea or program. I stand firmly and proudly with Charlie in saying
progress is being made with the Russians. We are learning better every year
the management differences and perhaps one day the Russian bee will be
common in the U.S.. If not the Russian bee will go the route of the Yugo
automoblie and Yugo (carniolan) bee!

The point I have tried to make which Michael & Chuck both understand is let
us not send the Russian bee down the road of the Yugo without being sure the
project was failure.

If the Russian/Russian bee will not survive varroa infestation with less
treament  and  need treatment for tracheal mites then the Russian bee will
be a hard sell to commercial beekeepers and the Russians will slip into
history in my opinion.

Let us not keep harping on past failures such as the Yugo bee (Tom Rinderer)
and let failure keep us from looking for a  bee which will tolerate varroa.
Failure in research is part of the road to success if looking for a cure to
a disease or a bee which will tolerate varroa.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison

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