I do hope that it is not intended to swamp the local population of bees with
10 times their number of packages from elsewhere.  Reading from paragraphs 15,
16, 141 and 142 of Wedmore it seems that there are several local strains of
bees in the Caucasus and they have notably long tongues to deal best with the
local flora.  They have exceptionally sweet temper and a hardy disposition.
The grey mountain strain are prolific though moderate swarmers, inclined to
give one large swarm.  They are not disposed to robbing; they work well in bad
weather and winter well.
 
I suggest the Save the Children Fund (which is a charity I support) would do
best by spending their million dollars over a number of years and targeting
the money mainly on educating children in modern beekeeping methods and
showing local beekeepers and wood workers how to make their own equipment, if
necessary providing woodworking and wax processing machinery.  In particular
any hives provided should be made locally to help skills and employment.
Given the knowledge the local people should be able to improve the
productivity of their beekeepers greatly and possibly start their own export
trade with their own queens.  It would appear to be too good a gene pool to
waste.
 
Thornes, the UK hive makers are justifiably proud to have recently won a
contract from the UN to supply Iraq with thousands of hives (the parts of Iraq
not governed by Sodem) .  Although it's great for Thornes how much better it
would have been for the UN to have spent our money (those of us who are not
behind with our payments) in the area where the need is.  Give a man a fish
and you feed him for a day:  teach him to fish and you feed him for life.
Chris Slade