>I focused on the mites and assumed....

>Moral of the story: I'd missed the big picture. My bees went down the same 
>path as the commercial beekeeper's bees did irrespective of how we treated 
>or what we treated our bees with.

I believe most beekeepers (especially commercial) beekeepers would agree 
mites have been the number one issue in the way of successful beekeeping. 
Nothing new here.

The quickest way to cut down mite issues is to use Russian bees. These guys 
do have some traits which many beeks feel hurt the bottom line but their 
ability to tolerate mites (without PMS is well documented and my personal 
experience).

The next big issue today is bees with mid gut issues. Is the whole problem 
nosema ceranae? I do not know.
Will fumigillin stop the issue?  In some cases yes and others no.

I do know that in the yards of people claiming CCD I find nosema ceranae in 
all levels and easy to see symptoms of bees with mid gut issues.

We have fought mites and saw virus issues come about when varroa is in hives 
(PMS which looks like brood disease) but since 2006 I find a third factor 
which is bees with mid gut issues.

Eric Mussen describes how bees with sick mid guts quit feeding.

In the U.K. research (Brenda Ball & Norman Carrick)  show that bee hives can 
tolerate high levels of varroa *if* you remove the virus issue.

The research of Bailey showed that few virus issues happen in hives when 
varroa is not present.

The above we lived with until the Mid gut issue ( nosema ?) which has added 
to the bees health problems.

*if* the mid gut issues are only from nosema ceranae then most operations 
can work through the issue but takes time but there are unanswered questions 
involving the bees mid gut.

Testing involves using a in inside hive feeder (which I bring) to see what 
stage the hive is in. Many commercial beeks open feed or use hive top 
feeders which the bees can not enter. Anytime a strong hive ignores syrup 
you should consider a mid gut issue unless a honey flow is on. A huge amount 
of dead bees in an inside feeder is not normal. Dr. Eric Mussen told beeks 
at the Missouri State Meeting these bees jump in and drown trying to take on 
syrup as the mid gut issues are making the bees unable to feed.

bob 

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