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
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