> ...swarms in fall almost always are because of varroa mites

I treated, promise. That hive actually had the lowest count on the farm in August, at 7--a little over 2% mites:bees. Nothing compared to the 15-20% I was calculating from the deadouts last winter. However, the prevalence of bees with multiple mites that I noted at that time has me wondering if it is possible that those high counts could simply be due to die-off, with the mites hopping off of the dead bees and back into the mix. With a high percentage of multiple infestation, such numbers might make sense, particularly if you're going into winter with mite counts in the 15 range.

In any case, I'm definitely going back to empirical management. Best results I ever had, and I'll hopefully avoid the late-season explosions in mite numbers I saw in the home hives.

S

Skillman, NJ

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