More to think about on the topic of "locally adapted" vs hybrid bees. This study compares Buckfast strains from England and Texas to unselected Canadian bees in Canada.

The results of bioassay and colony evaluations demonstrated that British and Texas Buckfast honey
bee stocks had one-third to one-half the mean prevalence and abundance of tracheal mites as
Canadian standard stock, indicating that Buckfast stocks are less susceptible to tracheal mites than
Canadian standard stock.

Adam (1987a,b) developed a strain known as the 'Buckfast bee' through 70
years of crossing bee stocks and artificial selection, which is claimed to be minimally
affected by tracheal mites. Adam (1968, 1987a,b) considered North
American bees to be so highly susceptible to tracheal mites that they were of
little value in his breeding programme, despite their many other positive characteristics.

The objective of this study was to investigate differences in the susceptibility of
bees from colonies of Buckfast and unselected Canadian stocks, as well as hybrids
between them, to infestation by tracheal mites, using bioassay and colony-level
evaluations.

The results of the bioassay and field evaluations suggest that the Texas Buckfast
stock had consistently fewer mites than the Canadian standard stock. In addition,
British and Texas Buckfast bees became less heavily infested with tracheal mites,
indicating less susceptibility to mites than the unseleeted CSS. 

Huarong Lin, Gard W. Otis and Cynthia Scott-Dupree (1996) Comparative resistance in Buckfast and Canadian stocks of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) to infestation by honey bee tracheal mites. Experimental & Applied Acarology, 20: 87-101

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