Dear beekeepers,
 
I'm glad to hear such wonderful comments concerning the quality of Hawaian
queens.
 
However, I wonder whether the mite free status of Hawaii, Australia and New
Zealand will be a drawback in the long term for dealing with both tracheal
mites and varroa. As a matter of fact, selective pressure combined with 
adaptation and evolution are working slowly but together in order to get a
mite resistant bee. How long this will take nobody knows, but with the aid
of bee breeding tools we might weed out all mite susceptible strains of
bees.
 
If we continue to bring bees from mite free areas into mite infested areas,
I doubt we can improve the degree of mite resistance of our bees. If  we
persist doing so, I believe we are fighting against nature. 
 
My opinion is that we should encourage the importation of queen bees from
places where mites and honeybees are coexisting.
 
Look forward to hearing your feedback.
 
With best regards.
 
Martín Braunstein
Malka Cabaña Apícola
e-mail: [log in to unmask]