Todd,
WHY was the colony WEAK going into the winter?  You used TWO treatments for
Varroa.  WHY?  Did you install menthol in August to kill TRACHEAL mites,
because
your description of the finding of a dead hive is close to the symptoms of
tracheal mites.  Did you autopsy the dead bees for tracheal mites? How do you
KNOW that your colony did not have AFB?

Although Carniolans have a much smaller population for wintering than any
other race, I have seen November clusters of Carniolans no bigger than a 3
pound swarm get through the winter in god shape.

It SHOULD BE important to every beekeeper to RESEARCH JUST WHAT KILLED A
COLONY rather than guess the cause.  Suppose those bees died of AFB, now
every piece of comb in the colony and every drop of honey, as well as the
woodware of the
hive may well have AFB spores, and ANY use of the comb. the honey, or even
the woodware is going to infect any new bees with AFB.  I hope your bees were
clean of AFB; but if not, you have suffered a bitter and expensive "lesson"
and hopefully you
will profit from that lesson in the future.

Have you treated the colony with Terramycin?  Terramycin only HIDES the
symptoms of AFB, but does NOT kill the spores.  Many people use Terramycin as
a prophylactic
thinking that it will kill AFB, and some time later they find they learn the
HARD WAY.

The only reason that I write at all is to possibly save you more heartache
because
you just don't know what killed your bees.  Some people might say that I am
being nasty, and if so, that betrays their lack of knowledge.

Just trying to HELP.

George Imirie
Certified EAS Master Beekeeper
Beginning my 71st year of successful beekeeping
Author of Georges Monthly PINK PAGES @ www.beekeeper/george_imirie/index.html
Author of American Beekeeping Federation Newsletter Hobbyist Tips
Switched from Italians to Carniolans 55 years ago to take advantage of their
EXPLOSIVE early spring buildup

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