Hello All,
In January I attended two talks given by Dr. Tom Rinderer. I also contacted
Tom by email later with a few other questions.

Dr. Rinderer said at the talks that he had sent samples of the Russian bee
to Dr. Fredrick Ruttner  to determine the makeup of the Russian bee.

A.m. macedonia is the primary race with a mix of A.m.cecropia, A.m.sicula,
A.m. ligustica and A.m.carnica.

To the untrained eye the Russian be appears to be carniolan. Most Russian
bees are smaller with smaller wings than the carniolan from the Russian bees
which I have examined. Tom said the Russian bee also has longer legs and
proboscis but I could not tell by my exaimination.
Tom said the Russian bee had more yellow at the tergites and scutellum than
carniolans.

I personally have trouble telling the Russian bee from a carniolan as they
most resemble *in my opinion* the carniolan bee.   I have kept most races
available in the U.S. at one time or the other but I have have got the most
experience with A.m. ligustica.

I do not at present run any Russian bees but Tom has talked me into trying a
100 Russian queens next month. I will report my success or failure in a
later post.

I am closing in on the two year mark ( July 2003) with my SMR queens and am
pleased with results so far. SMR is a trait however and not a race of bees.

My partner and I hope to build on the tools given us by the Baton Rouge Bee
lab over the next few years. We have finnally figured out a way to get
mature drones for our mating nucs the last of March in Missouri and are
mating queens we grafted ten days ago this week.
Bob

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