Dr. Shiminuki was back then like Dr. Jeff Pettis is today.
Shim was the USDA-ARS leader and needed to be on board with a project
of the scope of the import in order to happen. Dr. Rinderer (Baton Rouge bee lab)
ran the project.
I remember when only a plan talked about and Shim
explaining the plan.
commercial beekeepers were not excited as would take years to see results.
Taking researchers away from current problems upset a few
beekeepers.
Valid thinking plus the Ugo bee import had failed to live up to expectations
Soon beekeepers realized the Russian bee needed to be as pure as possible .
For serious Russian breeders like Charlie H. The Russian bee
lived up to expectations.
To most commercial beekeepers if you plan to control
varroa in your hives keeping a pure line of Russian bee is more work than interested in.
For a commercial beekeeper finding queens in a hurry
Is like finding a part for a car or truck.
You go down the phone list of possible suppliers until
the queens or part is located.
Race of bees not as important as finding queens.
bob
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