Walter said:
Maybe tracheals, huh?  Down here near Baton Rouge we kinda ignore those
things.

Those were his thoughts. I highly respect his opinion.

In our area we see a small ball of bees usually queenright and a hive full
of honey with a tracheal mite infestation but could be we overlook   TM
because we do not reconize as we  think another problem is the cause.

Walter said:
I don't see signs of nosema, though.

You usually do not see signs of nosema *unless* a very high nosema problem.
Nosema is easy to detect in a field test. I have tested a beekeepers bees
which were doing great he said and found nosema in every bee we looked at.

If you never treat for nosema or TM I would at least test a few bees. Send a
sample to Beltsville  bee lab.

Bob

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