> Brian asks - Why would we want to import more bees that have no resistance?

My understanding is that some Australian queen producers import
genetics from abroad to incorporate resistance to various threats.
Some of the imports were officially sanctioned, aand as it always is
with beekeepers, some of the imports were ad hoc.

(In regard to the huge confusion and concern about imports, I might
mention that the US shares a very long border with Mexico.  Tthe
terrain is such that swarms can traverse much of it quite easily.  I
had a chat with a Mexican the other day and I had the presence of mind
to ask him about importing stock. He said that they can import from
many countries with little difficulty, although some countries are
forbiddden.  He had just received queens from Bulgaria, I assume with
minimum hassle or protocol beyond doing the paperwork).

Personally, I cannot say that I have observed the results of any
recent efforts to incorporate resistance into Australian stock because
I had Australian queens years ago.  At that time, I felt that the
queens I had from Australia produced and wintered very well, but were
more susceptible to AFB than other bees I had at the time (Kona).

Australia is a huge country with many regions, so I would hesitate to
say that a few samples could represent the entire country or that
generalisations are possible.

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