> Would you please mention which producers have what you would consider
> good Russian queens?  How does a lay beekeeper tell?

I'm sorry, I can't.  I just took a snapshot of a graph on the lab wall
and asked Jose a few questions.  I'm sure I'll ask a few more, now that
I realise the impact of the idea.  Nnetheless, I would guess that the
identies are confidential.

Someday -- soon, I hope -- someone will have to bell this cat and start
naming names.

For now, Backwoods Apiaries in TN (if I got that right) does tests for
breeders who care enough to be working on TM tolerance.  It is expensive
and takes time, and results are, I assume again, confidential.
Nonethless, if anyone knows the proprietor, I am sure he/she would be
happy to name breeders who are using the service, without saying who is
good and who is bad.

I should think that anyone who has used the service at all heavily for a
few years should be improving over time, so that would be an indicator.

Of course, you can buttonhole your supplier and ask exactly how he/she
rates and how he/she knows and whether he/she uses the tests...

I asked mine.

allen
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/