I think one of my colonies has deformed wing virus.

I treated the colony with Apistan in the spring and have the varroa under
"control".

We have had a very stressful season for the bees with an early freeze that
took all the nectar sources, followed by rain and more rain for the rest of
the cool season. Most beekeepers have had to feed most of the season.

In early August I started to see bees with small ( 1/4 the length of the
abdomen)deformed wings held parallel and tightly  against the abdomen.
The colony kept ejecting these bees for the month of August and into the
middle of Sept.  There were always a lot of seemingly unaffected bees.

Treated with formic acid in mid Sept when the late, but sparse honey flow
began. About this time the numbers of deformed bees began to dwindle. The
colony had a good but not outstanding working field force

If this is deformed wing virus, should I destroy the colony?

What happens if the queen has the virus?

Any suggestions and /or theories would be appreciated

Dan Veilleux
Boone area
In the Mountains of NC

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