--- Bob Harrison <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

...Even my friend Aaron (and the others) left out the
> number one deadout cause
> by far.
>
> More than double any other cause I ever saw!
>
> Starvation! Easy to see!
>
> Bees dead with heads stuck in empty cells!
>
> Either no honey or honey a distance from the dead
> bee cluster!

Hello All,
Would like to hear your thoughts on this Bob.
I agree that dead-outs will generally be found to have
died of starvation.  But my thoughts are that
starvation is given more credit for colony failures
than it deserves.  For example, if you do the dead-out
examination and find a dead cluster about 3 inches
round that 'clearly starved', and stores and inch or
two away from the cluster.  Do you blame starvation?
OR do you blame the cause of the starvation? which
might be dwindling from some other factor resulting in
too small a cluster with not enough strength to be
able to shift to new stores?

The guy that has cancer for 5 years and has heart
failure.  Would you blame heart failure?,,,or do would
you blame the cancer as the cause of death?

Best Wishes,








Joe Waggle ~ Derry, PA
'Bees Gone Wild Apiaries'
Buy~Sell~Trade: Organic, Bees~Queens~Equipment at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OrganicbeekeeperClassifieds/
Check out a giant swarm:
http://joebee.homestead.com/files/honeybeeSwarm.jpg



__________________________________
Yahoo! Messenger
Show us what our next emoticon should look like. Join the fun.
http://www.advision.webevents.yahoo.com/emoticontest

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::