On Mon, 1 Apr 1996, Jim Moore DTN276-9448 ogo1/e17 508-496-9448 wrote:
 
>         I'm new to bee keeping. My first packages are
> due in a couple of weeks. I have been reading alot and
> have a question about hive management practices.
 
>         I have heard and read numberous accounts of
> winter losses to 50-90% of hives, all hives being
> treated in the same manner. Why do some make it and
> others not?
 
There are lots of potential reasons, many of which take little
more than common sense to explain once the rules are understood.
Level of Varroa infestation; Level of virus infection, stress,
other infections and so on. You name it.
 
Something recently demonstrated here in the UK, which may be
peculiar to the UK, is that a previously faily benigh virus
(slow paralysis virus or SPV) can reach 'critical mass' when
varroa is present. Present advice here is to try to keep varroa
modest during July (e.g., using bio-tech methods) and then knock
it back *hard* (e.g., by Apistan) in early August to give the
colony a chance to raise 'winter bees', which I understand are
physiologically different from summer bees (more body fat and
so on).
 
> If the varroa mite is introducing viruses
> into bees and the virus is causing the problem then it
> would seen moving frames between hives is a bad idea.
> It introduces both mites and bees with the virues onto
> an otherwise healthy hive.
 
This is always a risky practice, but for some difficult to
avoid. Hygiene is important, particularly where EFB and AFB
are concerned!
 
>         Has anyone surveyed beekeepers, looking at the
> relationship between losses and frame movement
> practices?
 
Good question, IMHO.
 
> Cleaning the hive tool after every hive use,
> sterilizing "used" equipment that is placed on hives
> are a couple of naive ideas.
 
No, they're not naive -- that's good hygiene management!
 
We wear disposable surgical gloves. We dispose of them and
sterilise our hive tools between apiaries (though not between
colonies).
 
> Irradiation (uugh) may
> become a practical and normal practice if the economics
> of replacing losses are great enough.
 
Irradiation is well established for many tasks and largely
considered safe (well, safer than many of the organisms it
destroys, anyway). I think that fear of irradiation is mostly
emotional (fair enough!), but there is always that nagging
'what if we're wrong' question.
 
Some years ago, I used to keep marine fishes and I _always_
fed them with irradiated food, because the risks of *not*
doing so were much higher.
 
All of our pollen suplement feeds here are irradiated for the
same reason.
 
Heat alone is sufficient to kill most pathogens, however, be
aware that AFB spores need around 160C wet heat (steam/wax)
for 10 minutes for a sure kill. That's tough!
 
Regards,
--
Gordon Scott   [log in to unmask]      [log in to unmask] (work)
The Basingstoke Beekeeper (newsletter)      [log in to unmask]
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Beekeeper; Kendo 3rd Dan; Sometime sailor.  Hampshire, England.