I am copying this because I think its an interesting point of view and I
am interested in how many of you will respond to this perspective.

I appologize for the intense crossposting to all the bee forums, but I
believe this involves each of other the groups' focus.

Scot Mc Pherson

-----Original Message-----
From: Djubaya [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 10:22 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [beekeeping] Russian queens in California



The Russian dilemma.

This is a letter written recently to the Sonoma County (California) Bee
keeping group by one of its members. It is a very informative look at
the consequences of past (and potentially future) mistakes by bee
keepers with the best of intentions... It changed the mind of many folks
who were ordering Russian Queens.

Djubaya

********************************************

In view of all the talk we hear about queens this season, I feel
compelled to add my two cents worth of opinion. And here it is up front:
Do NOT bring Russian queens to California! If we do, we might all end up
paying for this mistake in the years to come.


Our area of the West Coast is one of the few places on this planet that
enjoys a Mediterranean climate. Most of the bees we have here are of
Italian descent (Apis mellifera ligustica). These bees are very well
adapted to our climate, to the rhythm of our seasons, to our flora. Over
countless centuries, they have evolved in similar conditions before
being introduced here, 150 years ago. Since then, these bees have been
instrumental in turning California into one of the world's most famous
regions for agriculture and beekeeping.

Russian queens, on the contrary, have evolved in Eastern Siberia. The
conditions that placed constraints on their evolution and on their
natural selection in that part of the world are almost at the other
extreme of those that we have here.

The only reason Russian bees were introduced in this country was in an
attempt to bring in bees that possibly possessed some degree of
tolerance or resistance to varroa mites. But by now, some of our local
bees have developed this capacity too! And this is good. Also, most of
our bees that had no natural resistance to the mites were decimated
during the 1990's.

Do you remember all the hype about the "Yugo" queens, a few years ago?
This is the same phenomenon we are seeing today with the Russian bees.
And what a failure those "Yugo" bees were in the end!

At this point, I must ask a series of questions and raise a red flag:
What will be the outcome of the cross between Russian bees, which are
adapted to cold regions, and Africanized bees, when they meet in
California? Isn't this the perfect recipe to extend the domain of
Africanized bees to the entire North American continent? Can you imagine
the consequences of having Africanized bees all over the U.S. and
Canada? Did the scientists who went looking for Russian bees anticipate
this scenario? If they did, what was their plan to prevent it from
happening? Or did they even care if it happened?

Africanized Honey Bees are already the result of a similar experiment
that went out of control: Nearly fifty years ago, a well meaning
Brazilian scientist imported African bees to South America. They escaped
from his custody, interbred with the gentle European bees, and then
spread far and fast to reach Texas, Arizona and California a few years
ago. Do we want to compound the mishap? Do we want to draw the so-called
"killer bees" further North?

With all the respect that is due to the scientists for their good work,
they sometimes err. The importation of Russian bees might be one of
these mistakes.

I can understand that beekeepers located in areas that endure long and
harsh winters are interested in having Russian queens, but I cannot
imagine that it would make any sense to have these bees here, in
California! Carrying colonies through cold winters is not a difficulty
we have to face in our climate.

Hives are moved to and from California by the thousands for pollination
contracts. Unfortunately, it is only a matter of time before Russian and
African bee genes mix. Then, what?

According to numerous reports, Russian bees are so different from our
Italians that the methods of managing beehives have to be adjusted or
modified for them. Russian bees are descended from the German black bee,
Apis mellifera mellifera, which is notorious for its aggressive
behavior, its promptitude at issuing swarms, and its nervousness on the
frames. It takes as many as ten days for a Russian queen to be accepted
by a hive. Do we really want to introduce these traits into our local
bee gene pool?

After all, the ONLY reason that may make Russian queens desirable is
their supposed resistance to mites. But tests have shown that this
resistance is highly variable among Russian queens, and that it is lost
very quickly in subsequent generations.

Again, let's not forget that some of our local bees have developed
tolerance or resistance to varroa mites. Let's select and propagate
these! All we need to do is to open our eyes, look at our hives, and at
the feral colonies that survive without treatment. Of course, if you
treat your hives with synthetic compounds, you cannot see which ones
would be naturally resistant, and which ones would be failing. This is
because you are indiscriminately sustaining them with artificial means.
until the treatment becomes ineffective. When this happens, many hives
collapse and huge losses are experienced by beekeepers, which is exactly
what we see happening this year.

The queens that are in our hives are not always the sources of the
problems we experience in the apiaries. Actually, they seldom are. And
other queens are seldom the solutions to these problems. Most of the
time, it is our beekeeping practices that are the culprit. Will we ever
be willing to recognize this? Anytime we honestly admit we have made a
mistake in our hive management, we become better beekeepers. If we then
correct the mistake, our bees become stronger. What we need is a change
in our attitude, and improvements in our hive management practices, not
Russian queens.

"The grass is always greener on the other side of the hill". So, we
import bees from abroad, thinking that these foreign queens are better
than the ones we have right here. And yet. many of our local girls are
doing a fine job!

Unfortunately, we not only import bees, but we also import foreign pests
and diseases. The list of these is already too long: Chalkbrood,
tracheal and varroa mites, Small Hive Beetle and Africanized bees. All
of them introduced in the U.S. during the last three or four decades.
Now Tropilaelaps Clareae and many more are knocking at our door.


Are we so scared of the varroa mite that we are willing to introduce
queens that are completely foreign to our area, to our continent? Let's
appreciate our good Italian or Carniolan queens for all their beneficial
traits.

Let's not succumb to the unsubstantiated hype and to the appeal of ads
that promote Russian queens.

Let's not blame our local bees for our own mistakes, shortcomings,
incompetence or inability to see the real causes of our problems.

Instead, let's become better beekeepers.

Let's treat our local bees with respect, understanding, attention, good
hive management practices, and not with chemical substances!

And let's leave the Russian bees where they are. Hopefully, it is not
too late.


Serge Labesque





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