In response to questions about the dead bees (with Varroa) in my flight
chamber.  Only daylight was increased, humidity, temperature stayed the
same - relatively constant.  We had increased the RH a few weeks earlier
in an attempt to avoid dehydrating the bees.
 
The bees were "old" since brood rearing had ceased several weeks before.
With a low level of daily die-off, the number of bees was slowly
decreasing.  If the Varroa managed to do better than the bees, their
population may have slowly increased relative to the number of bees.
Since the brood cycle had stopped, presumably we should not have been
getting new Mites.
 
The debris carried out is puzzling, the hive looked like it had been vacuumed.
 
Jerry Bromenshenk
The University of Montana
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