>Has anyone in the US found a supplier of either Russian queens and/or
>Russian packages that (s)he would care to recommend?  Or -- without running
>down any suppliers by name -- any practices to watch out for?
>
>allen

Kirk Webster has Russian crosses. As with most who initially tried
Russians, he found they superceded often, and really weren't very good
bees. But, he has been breeding from the survivors, and is now having
pretty good luck. The mite load is small, and his breeders haven't been
treated in several years. I'm in touch with him quite often. He has told me
that he has seen colonies recovering from varroa without chemicals. I was
impressed with how strong his colonies were...packed with bees. He still
has to treat some honey production yards, but he seems to be headed in the
right direction. For someone looking for Russian stock, I would recommend
queens from him...order by January. He has already done much of the
selection needed to get these Russians to be suitable bees for  our area. I
buy his honey each year, and after a disaster a few years ago, when he lost
most of his bees and made a miserable crop, his honey crop is on the rebound.

Mike

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