Hello All,
I said;
I will most likely be the first to test the Russian/Russian bee against the
"super varroa" & current virus issue as I am placing a line of Russian yards
parallel to yards returning from California
with super mites & virus issues for miles. All within flying distance.

I might add I had three yards of the jet black Russian/Russian bees within
flying distant of yards which belonged to another beekeeper which were wiped
out in fall 2004 from super varroa (resistant varroa to both Apistan &
checkmite) and deadouts all showed PMS. They are all in good shape and
remain untreated.

I am running three lines of pure Russian/Russian so I can only give
testimony on one line so far against the "super varroa".  Not until I can
get in those yards and check queen markings will I know how many F1's
(hybrids from supercedure & swarming) were involved in those three yards in
2004.

I plan to test all three lines against the super varroa this year. All
Russian bees are not equal. When you speak of f1's or F2's you get a far
ranging scale as to varroa tolerance along with other traits.

 Time will tell what hybrid combinations are worthwhile.

One combination worth talking about I am working on is the pure
Russian/Australian 2005 but that's another story.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison

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