We receintly purchased packaged Bee's from a local bee supply
enterprise.  The dealer made a trip south and trucked the packages
back.  The packages were purchased queenless.  We bought our buckfast
queens from the Weaver's.  When the packages arrived the sugar cans
were empty.  All the bees appeared vigourous and strong.  All the
packages were hived upon delivery and the queens introduced.  Upon
checking for queen release 5 days later we discovered our problem and
hence my question.  I should also note that all the queens had been
released into  the colony.
 
My problem is that it appears that I am going to lose about 1/3 of
the purchased colonys.  On the day we checked the hives for queen
release we found the bees in the questionable colonys to be extremely
sluggish and or dormant.  A check 2 days later on the suspected hives
showed lots of dead bees approx. 90%.  A visual exam for varroa
showed a few bees with mites out of the several hundred examined
maybe 10 had varroa.  We have sent samples out for T-mite testing as
I have not purchased a scope yet.  I would be happy to supply more
specific information to those who have furthur questions for me.
 
What should I suspect or pursue in my investigations as to these
losses?
 
Thanks in Advance
 
 
 
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The Cutting Farm                 Kearsage Beekeepers Association
PO Box 605                       NH & VT Beef Producers Association
Grantham, New Hampshire 03753
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