I tried several new varieties this year:
2 pkgs of B. Weaver BeeSMaRt
2 Nucs of Russian
2 Nucs of Carniolan
1 pkg Carniolan
I ended up with 1 strong BeeSMaRt hive, 2 reasonably strong Carniolan, 0 Russian (they absconded), and 9 non AHB ferals, some are of Italian (A. m. ligustica) origin and some are of Egyptian (A. m. lamarkii) origin.
The BeeSMaRt seem to put up a lot of honey but also are kind of like Italians (brood raising fools). Their temperament is a little more aggressive than Italians but by no means hot (I work them in a veil, t-shirt and no gloves). They have handled the SHB very well and I have not seen any mites on them (although I am sure they are there). I ended up combining one struggling BeeSMaRt package with a struggling Carniolan package, the Carniolan queen took over and it became a pretty strong Carniolan colony.
The Carniolan do not put up quite as much honey, but they are really a joy to work, the most docile of any I have come across. I really like their coloration too. One nuc absconded shortly after I put them in a 10-frame hive body. They handled the SHB quite well but I did notice a few mites. The mite load was quite low so they seem to be holding their own so far, time will tell.
Don't think I will try the Russians again, they were quite "flighty" when I worked them and both colonies built up well during the main flow but they eventually absconded for no readily apparent reason. They were there one day raising brood and bringing in lots of nectar and pollen and then were gone the next.
The ferals are a real mixed bag. Some are quite calm and others are more like the BeeSMaRt in temperament, all of them are not bad to work (veil, t-shirt and no gloves). Most seem to raise lots of brood but also seem to put up quite a bit of stores as well. They all handle the SHB very well and I have not seen any mites (again I am sure there are some). If they make it through till spring, I will have a better evaluation of them next year.