>I think it was Allen that wrote earlier today about insect populations 
being very "boom and bust"..and this is another piece to the puzzle.


>Eventually, we are back to "boom"...until it's time for another "bust".
----

Not sure it is that simple, -being either 'boom or bust'.
There are natural fluctuations in any population that
occur to varying degrees.

A beekeeper; -commercial or hobbyist,  might begin
to subscribe to the boom or bust thinking, due to
the propensity for apiaries to suffer severe population 
declines together. 

I do have a list of bee mortalities and hardships
listed on the Historical Honeybee Articles files in folder: 
Files > 13) Bee Mortality & Hardship
which depict bee hardships occurring as far back
as 0916 A.D.  But even in many of these hardships,
what may have been interpreted to the beekeeper
as a bust,  may only have been a bust to the beekeepers 
bottom line -or in his apiary, and not quite a bust to the 
honeybee populations as a whole.  So when a 'bust' can 
be called a 'bust' is debatable.

However,  if we are describing boom or bust in relation
to the varroa infestations from about 1995 when severe
losses began to occur.  There are many things in my 
region that I noticed are different;  varroa losses and 
associated diseases have declined, foulbrood  has 
declined, feral population has surged, brood viability
in domestic colonies has increased substantially, domestic
colonies are more densely populated and surplus has
increased.    

I think we are approaching the end to the 'boom'   'bust'
cycle caused by varroa and associated diseases.  However, 
we may still experience a few blips along the way.

Perhaps
'boom' 'blip' or 'bust' will be the new norm in beekeeping.

Best Wishes,
Joe Waggle

 

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