I currently have only three hives - one Carniolan, and two Russians. There seem to be very clear differences between the two groups (granted that I'm dealing with a very small representation). The Carniolan builds very fast in Spring, attains considerable size, produces prodigiously, and uses very little propolis. Their temperment seems medium - gentle on nice days, not so gentle otherwise. They are completely defenseless against varroa without treatment. My two Russian hives have nearly identical characteristics, despite the fact that the queens came from very different breeders. They are a bit slow to build at first, but then come on very quickly later in the season. They are *very* gentle, even on less than ideal days. They're considerably darker than my Carniolans, and a bit smaller, and both use gobs of propolis (which is sometimes a bit irritating). They both also seem to build comb in a different manner from the Carniolan - they seem to work from side to side in a super, as opposed to working from the center outward. They seem to produce well, though a bit less than my Carniolan hive. Lastly, as I mentioned in a previous post, they definitely store pollen differently than my Carniolan hive. They salso eem to have some varroa resistance (very few crawlers/k-wing/small abdomen, low mite drop counts) as opposed to my Carniolans. An obvious disclaimer here - I'm assuming that the guy I bought the Carniolan nuc from knew what strain/race he had. > Russians, as you call them, are Carniolans, just living in a separate region. > They are called Primorsky (spelling?) Carniolans. > > George Imirie > I have read conflicting information on the lineage of Russians. Some claim them to be Caucasian, some say Carniolan, some say Macedonian. I think Roger Morse referred to them as Caucasians, and lamented the fact that they produce so much propolis (as I have seen in my hives). My questions are: 1) What is the general consensus as to the Russian lineage? 2) Do my racial observations match up with others? Thanks, Todd.