"many  of the hives lost were splits in their first year."

I loss all my first year splits, all my 2010 packages and 4 swarms I picked 
up through last season. I loss very few older hives but some I loss 
surprised me, they were very strong, and I few that lived surprised me too 
because they seemed to struggle through the summer but survived the winter. 
I kept a watch on mite levels, treated in September with ApiGuard and Mite 
Away II and used Fumagilin, checked for nosema and tracheal mites which were 
not a problem. I did loose one hive to dysentery this spring. What I saw 
when cleaning the dead hives is there was honey but no pollen yet the hive 
right next to it had pollen but no honey. Not one single hive had both honey 
and pollen. What ever the reason the winter losses here are huge all through 
the area.

In the northeast our 2010 season was very hot and dry. We hardly had a 
nectar flow and the pollen is said to have been poor quality since the 
temperatures were above normal for so long. I have been told and read that 
temperature can affect the protein in the pollen. We had a very early spring 
and record breaking heat most of the summer. In a storage shed I had frames 
of foundation melt and drip down all over boxes of drawn out wax they were 
stacked on, a mess. Boxes and frames have been kept there for years and that 
never has happened. In the south that probably happens, not something you 
see in Maine.

I gave every hive dry sugar on the top the end of October since our nectar 
flow was so poor. The first of March any hive alive that I could get to, we 
had a lot of snow, got a pollen substitute patty. The bee yard that did the 
best is in a 50 acre hay field that got cut late because of the weather, 
after the cut we had some rain and the red and white clover bloomed. I could 
not get to that yard to check them until two weeks ago because of snow and 
mud. I had brought in a couple of swarms and that is what I lost in that 
yard no older hives.

Since I work in a bee supply shop this spring I have to seen allot of dead 
bees, people bring them asking questions. I am seeing a lot of very stunted 
abdomens. I have not seen that in my bees, the dead bees all are a good 
size.

Karen T-K
Maine 

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