Hi Judy,
 
You have bitten off a huge piece with this discussion subject!  By no means
am I an expert, but I can describe some of what you might do in preparation
for discussion.
 
Look at the relevant chapter(s) in The Hive and the Honeybee, by Dadant,
etc. al.  Look also at Brother Adam s book on searching for the best strains
of bees I do not recall the exact title, but it is something like  searching
for the best strains of bees .  Perhaps best of all call Larry Connor at
Wicwas Press.  203-250-7575; [log in to unmask]  Larry is a fine entomologist
specializing in honeybees, and seems to have every book possible on honeybee
subjects.  Most of all, he is very helpful and will provide you a lot of
ideas on where to search and probably save you a lot of time that might
otherwise be spent going in wrong directions.
 
Part of the difficulty you will encounter is that Americans have bred the
bee strains so that not a whole lot is left of the original characteristics.
For example, I am told our Italians are not nearly the same bees that are
kept as Italians in Italy; our Carnolians are mostly  New World Carnolians ,
and have been highly selected to both subtract and add traits compared to
the  original  Carnolians still found in Eastern Europe;  Buckfast are a
hybrid and supposedly vary greatly based on individual breeders, etc.
 
Finally, of course, beekeepers tend to be a little opinionated, so you
should have a lively, if not terribly scientific, discussion.
 
Good luck,
Lloyd
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Owner, Ross Rounds  the finest in comb honey production.