The first year I started beekeeping, I bought bees.  I bought a package from Georgia and a nuc from northern Ohio.  Both struggled all year.  That same year, I caught a swarm of local bees from a bee tree and they thrived.

This was the beginning of my journey capturing local swarms that are adapted to our area.  I began selecting the best queens from those swarms and built our colonies from there.

That strategy of local is better has been in our ethos ever since.  We have bees that show resistance to mites, are gentle to work and productive, yet frugal in winter.