Somebody wrote to me off-list saying:
"We did not start having issues with queens until about 20 years ago when
we started putting chemicals in our hives for Varroa. In the last 20 years
it has become worse and we have changed chemicals and started using higher
doses of existing chemicals. Look at Check Mite / Chumphus (sp?). Dr.
Fell at Virginia Tech has done research on this and proved it shortened a
queen's useful life.
There may be an issue with changing climate and changing forage / food but
this is not as severe and as close to the issue as the chemicals in the
hive are."
Just because something happened at a certain time doesn't necessarily make
it cause and effect. Arguably, the problems might be caused by the varroa
and the chemicals are innocuous. Could Dee Lusby or any other 'organic'
beekeepers say whether their queens are performing like they used to in the
good old days which always look so good through rose-tinted spectacles.
Chris
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