> i hear these lines touted, but i don't hear anything that would make me want to buy them.  if they are supposed to be bees that are more resistant to varroa, are they more resistant enough to eliminate varroa treatments? if they are not, then one either has to monitor (labor intensive, especially in a big commercial operation), or continue to treat regularly (with all the comb contamination, brood killing, and microbial culture disrupting results that the purty italians have).

Honestly, what is the point you are trying to make? If the bees aren't 100% mite resistant, you don't want them? Maybe there is no such thing and never will be. Then what? Some of us have to live in the real world and therefore accept better as better, though not perfect. If you buy varroa resistant bees you stand a chance of developing further resistance by selecting from the progeny, for one thing. But as Dave Tarpy writes:

By the end of the first year, we found statistically significant
differences between the stocks in varroa mite intensity (mites per adult bee), such that Russian-hybrid
colonies tended to have a significantly lower proportion of parasitized adult bees than Italian colonies.

In the second year, we found statistically signifcant differences between the stocks in varroa mite load
(daily mite drop), such that Russian-hybrid colonies tended to have lower total numbers of mites than
Italian colonies. These findings suggest that beekeepers may benefit by incorporating commercially
purchased mite-tolerant stocks into their existing integrated pest management programs.

Of course, in certain circles talking of IPM is like sleeping with the enemy. Properly understood, IPM seeks to eliminate chemical and/or expensive inputs. It uses the best ideas from the organic movement as well as the techniques of modern agriculture. It discards the bad ideas of both. It is not a religion, nor a rigid mindset. It is a flexible approach to reality where there is an ongoing, unending battle which pits food producers and food consumers against the vagaries of weather, climate, pests and pesticides. The only that stays the same is change, and if you are not constantly changing, you are out of touch at best. IMHO. 

plb

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