Gentlepeople:
        I seem to have started a minor landslide of diverging topics.
     Obviously my question was not framed properly. Originally I asked
     "Which race of honey bees should I go with?"  I then described a
     little bit about my area.
        My intent was to solicit experiences with the different races of
     bees from people who had worked with each of the major different races
     (Italian, Carniolan, Caucasion (should I add Buckfast?)).  For those
     of us who are new to this pastime(obsession) "war stories" are
     invaluable.
        I thank all of you who referred me to the BEE Culture article.  I
     have read it several times and it is extremely helpful in
     understanding the different characteristics of the races and what was
     observed over a short period of time.  But it did not give a newbee
     (chuckle) an assessment of a long time use of the particular race.
     One season of assessment seems to me to be good information.  Ten
     seasons of experiences and evaluations would be even better.  Your
     experiences with the different types of bees would serve me and
     perhaps others with the equivalent of more than ten seasons of our own
     efforts and experimentation.
        Many of you have already come to prefer one race of bee over
     another.  Why did you decide?  What experiences did you have that
     moved you from one race to use another?  I have not the experience nor
     have I been able to afford to buy several packages of the different
     races to conduct my own experiments (as of yet).
        I thank you all again in advance for all the help your discussions
     are to me and other new beekeepers as we "listen in".  Bear with us as
     we ask what may be naive (shall I say ignorant) questions and share
     your "war stories".
     Mark Egloff
     Dayton, Ohio
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     2 Hives of Italians, Plans for more.