>Well, here's the thing. New York is the #3 state for apples, and tens of thousands of hives are moved in to pollinate every May. Many of these beekeepers then fan out all over New York State to try to get a honey crop in summer. 

I live in some apple country, most orchards are smaller and require less bees, so most pollination is done by locals. 

>Most of those pollinating beekeepers winter their bees in Florida. If there was some sort of epidemic it could definitely be moved from Florida to NYS and on to MA and ME. 

Every year there is a huge migration of bees to ME for the blueberry pollination. Most bee trucks go up the 95 corridor. I'm very close to the mass pike and I expect many of those trucks go right by me. 

>I think the very high DWV levels have something to do with the die back, but I can't be sure of it without being able to see the data from other regions mapped out. 

3 years ago I had 100% survival in 3 yards and 90% in another. This year 80% loss. I managed pretty much the same, so something has changed. If I can't figure it out this summer, I'll probably get out of beekeeping.

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