Alois Wallner's  work  is very impressive.  In 92  I had the opportunity to
go to Austria and the Czech Republic to see Wallner's program and various
Carnica stocks.  There is a  lot of potential here.
 
Dr. Ruttner (1995, personal communication) states that A.m. carnica
colonies  demonstrated the rare ability to recognize and destroy Varroa
mites.  on the average of 10 out of a 1000 colonies.  Ruttner and Hanel
(1992) found that of the stock selected by Alois Wallner in Austria,  12 of
700 colonies showed a slower Varroa population growth rate.  It was
determined that 30% to 50 % of mites had been physically damaged by worker
bee mandibles. In a letter Ruttner (1995, personal communication) writes,
"You will be interested to hear that Alois Wallner is still happy with his
selection success. He now has colonies surviving for 5 years without
treatment! The number of colonies which are allegedly resistant is
constantly increasing."
 
Dr. Vesley,  director of  the Vyzkumny ustav vcelarsky v Dole in the Czech
Republic (1995, personal communication) writes that,  "Varroa resistant bee
breeding program continues on a broad scale. The work is long term, but
already now we have found bees with high ability to harm active mites.
Results from here as well as from Austria show that Carniolan bees may be
very useful for this breeding type."
 
I've been trying to import semen from Wallner's Carnica stock for about 10
yrs.  Despite the help of Dr. Ruttner and Dr. Laidlaw- this has been very
frustrating.   My first attempt was as  a commercial queen breeder in 87 -
Permit was never approved or denied- just bogged down in bureaucratic red
tape. Recenty I tried again with the backing of OSU. - permit was denied in
Feb. 95.
 
Ironically, a commercial  interest successfully imported semen from
Wallner's stock in 94 on what was claimed to be an approved permit.  Upon
my inquiry, the officials stated they were unaware a permit was issued and
were unaware semen had been imported. They claimed to be unable to find any
records concerning this and had to request a copy  from the importer. The
paperwork was apparently signed during a transition of personnel. The
importation is now considered illegal, the permit revoked.
 
Importation of semen is a safe and effective means to import stock.  To
accomplish this, we need a level playing field and pressure coming from the
beekeeping industry  for a revision of the 1922 law.
 
Susan Cobey
Ohio State University
Dept. of Entomology
1735 Neil Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210
Tel.(614) 292-7928
Fax (614) 292 2180