> The primorsk bee was described as a bee managing varroa well. It
> doesn't fit with russian sources.
> ...why so many formulas when the bee "can
> coupe with the varroa self"?).

There is some confusion betwween the unselected Primorsky Russian stock
found in Russia, and the stock selected and imported by the USDA.

My understanding is this: USDA scientists figured that if any European
bees -- anywhere -- would have resistance to varroa, that the logical
place to look would be the region where the EHB first contacted the
mite.  That is on the eastern extreme of Russia, near the Chinese
border.

They went there a number of times and selected bees that seemed
promising.  Not all bees in that region have strong resistance, since
the beekeepers shield them from mites using treatments, just as we do
here.  Nonetheless, they did find some stock that seemed promising in
mite resistance, in honey production, and in temprament, so they
imported about 100 queens a year for 5? years.

On arrival in the US, the bees were quarantined and bred and selected.
Of the many queens imported, only a relatively small number of lines
were retained after selection.  Those remainder do carry very
considerable tolerance to both tracheal and varroa, and also have the
requisite qualities to be a commercial bee in North America -- in the
opinion of the USDA and their co-operators.

The Primorsky Russians in the USA are a very different bee from what you
would find if you just grabbed any old queen in Eastern Russia.

allen
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/
Now a retired beekeeper with minus 200 hives

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