KMail local folder

[Timothy Murphy]

I have a large amount of old emails
in /var/spool/mail/tim/ on my laptop.
I have created a KMail account
specifying the MBox file /var/spool/mail/tim/.
I have chosen Lock method: None

I found there was already a Local Folders account
pointing to a Maildir folder at ~/.local/share/local-mail
which in fact is empty.
So I called the new account alice
(the email comes from in.alice.it).

Unfortunately after setting up the MBox account as above
I do not see the email in the /var/spool/ folder.

It is clear that I do not understand KMail accounts properly.
Could some kind soul please enlighten me.

Should I perhaps delete the old "Local Folders" account,
and use this name for the new account.
Or is that irrelevant?