Angus,
I'd like to make one point.  Importation is banned in Ireland
because Ireland is a Varroa Free country and we want to keep it that
way.  Once we get varroa you can bet your life people will be applying
pressure to import queens again of various strains/races.
 
 
Yes, as you know, in the south of Ireland Micheal  Mc..gilla..coda
(spelling escapes me at present) is active in applying morphometry to
the dark *native* strain of bees and has established a monostrain. In
the North bees are of  *natives*, Buckfast, Italian and crosses of
these.  The Ulster Beekeepers are going to set up queen rearing
station soon to help sort this problem out.
 
Regards
Philip Earle
 
 In Ireland where monostrained areas of native bees have been
> established, importation is banned, the bees can be handled
> without veil in short sleeves.  This has been achieved in only four
> years.
>
> Angus Stokes
>