Bob,
Noting  your comment to Allen and Aaron regarding SMR, I have to comment.

In 1948, Steve Taber persuaded me to switch from Italians (which I had 15
years, starting in 1933) to Carniolans.  Smartest thing that I ever did.
However, back in the 50's, 60's and 70's good Carniolan queens were difficult
to find, and I tried perhaps every Carniolan breeder in the U.S.  Finally,
Sue Cobey appeared and working under the principles of Laidlaw and Page with
the closed population breeding theory,
Sue developed the New World Carniolan strain which Freidrich Ruttner
described as the nearest strain to the original Carniolan as he had ever
seen.  Of course, Sue is
maybe the world leader in artificial insemination today.  Why am I saying all
of this?  The "Russian" bee IS A CARNIOLAN, and A.I. has been demonstrated by
famous scientists as the way to go to maintain the good points of a
particular race or strain.

Sorry about you hernia.  I wish I could recover from my series of 5 strokes
in the past 11 years.  I have great difficulty walking, and manage my
remaining 20 colonies from the back of a used golf cart; but I AM ALIVE and
healthy!

Hope all is well.

George Imirie