I am having trouble with unexplained queen loss for the second year in a row and am curious if others have similar problems.  I bought 50 queens in June from a very reputable supplier.  The queens were shipped overnight  from a nearby state and the weather was moderate so I don't think there was any shipment stress.  I installed the queens in 3 frame nucs and got approximately 95% acceptance.  Once the nucs filled up I transferred them to hive bodies and added foundation and have been feeding liquid sucrose to help them draw out the frames.  The queens have been slowly dying out - loss is about 80% now, many after 6-8 weeks in the hive apparently thriving.  I found 6 hives yesterday that had graduated to 2 hive bodies that had gone queenless.  Mite loads are low, and hives have been taking feed until they go queenless.  Other hives quickly rob out the weakened queenless units so the symptoms don't appear to be CCD-like.  I am in a very low pesticide use area.  Any ideas appreciated.

Bill Lord
Louisburg, NC

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