George Williams wrote:

> 12 of my 13 hives totally abandoned. I chalked my loss up to carpenter ant
invasions 

When I lived in San Diego back in the 1980s I almost lost a yard of 85 to
ants. At least a dozen were driven out of the hives by the time I noticed. I
sprinkled powdered diazinon around the hives and that held off the ants for
a while. The temperatures rose up to about a hundred and the diazinon
started to vaporize. Then the hives REALLY started to die off! I had to
borrow a truck and move the whole yard to another location. Also, if you
live in Florida, you will no doubt get African bees in some of your hives,
and these bees are known to abscond when conditions are at all unfavorable.

By the way, Jerry's comment about old equipment was not a criticism of your
equipment. Many beekeepers and researchers are now recommending getting rid
of combs that are more than a few years old. Personally, I think this is
extreme, since it hasn't really been shown that old equipment causes
disease, per se. On the other hand, it IS something positive we can do and
it has the side benefit of making the hives neater and easier to work. Old
gummed up equipment is never a bonus, aside from being cheap and easy enough
to obtain. 

Finally, as the information I have posted suggests, something like this
disappearing disease has appeared every twenty years or so, over the past
few decades. There may be cycles bees go through, there may be new elements
in the environment that they eventually become accustomed to in time. This
is certainly not to suggest that there isn't a serious problem. It certainly
 is serious if you lose 80 percent or more of your hives to any cause. I
hope some of this information may be helpful.

pb

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