Peter let me say I have no interest in slamming Australian beekeepers and if the situation was a different country with the same set of circumstance my feelings would be the same. Australia is the last hold out that is varrora free - to suggest its a good place then to select for varroa resistance is puzzling to me and maybe to others.   

As I'm sure you know its not as simple as taking a breeder queen which has proven resistance or hygeinic traits and grafting from her and all of a sudden you have resistant bees and minimal to no treatments.

I am unable to divulge my sources of firsthand experience in testing or managing Aussie bees and the performance in the field due to privacy and political reasons. Therefore you will have to take my word that I have credible connections with people involved in the industry that most people on this list would recognize immediately.  

These conversations included stories of piles of chalkbrood mummies found in Aussie packages when kept in cool locales during periods of dearth and difficulties getting to August without hives starting to crash with varroa. Hygienic testing that showed little to no positive data also came from a source who collected the data in CA. 

Lets be clear and note that a significant amount of the stock sold or maintained here in the USA has little varroa resistance and I would put them in the same class as the Aussie bees, only the USA stock has no resistance as they are propped up with heavy treatments. Same problem different origins .

But VSH, Russian and Hygienic stock is gaining appeal in the last 2-3 years and the availability is increasing. The number of beekeepers raising their own queens is increasing here and we have a new wave of beekeepers emerging who understand the issues and seek to rid themselves of harmful treatments. 

The reality is you have none of the pressure of varroa  and resultant virus load we have here to select from so I find it hard to comprehend your argument that somehow Australia is a better place for selecting honeybee genetics that are resistant to varroa then anywhere else in the world that is infested. 

The other simple fact is we don't need imported bees and queens from anywhere!. We don't have a crisis or shortage except in the media here and aside from the last minute ability for some pollinators to fill equipment and fulfill a contract there is no reason to face the inherent risks associated with importing bees from an area that has some presence of Apis Cerana. 

I just don't see a depth of data that you have to show that would encourage a beekeeper who makes his/her living from their bees in the USA to run out and get some of those Aussie queens or bees in order to move towards a more resistant operation.  In my mind that was never a "feature" of the Aussie bees. They are the " fast food drive up" like option for bees in this country and that appears to be their appeal to a small segment of the industry. 

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