Thanks, Dave for your report from SC, USA.
 
Up here in the Great White North, Alberta, Canada to be specific, we
are seeing signs of spring -- finally.
 
Although we still have snow here, we are seeing it go fast.  Last
night was the first night above freezing I can recall lately, and
there are puddles in the yard.  Our pond is full to overflowing, and
the runoff hasn't yet finished.  Usually it is over March 17th!
 
Winter set in early, and we have had more snow this past winter than
we've had for the last twenty or so.  Snowmobile dealers can't wipe
the grin off their collective face -- after ten or more years of
tough sledding.
 
The worst thing is that we had very few warm breaks duing the winter,
and the bees had to really work to get onto new stores.  Many
winters, the bees have cleaned their bottom boards in December or
Jan.  Not this year.
 
Losses in Alberta are reported as varying from 10% to 100%, with the
most typical and believable ones being in the 15% to 60% range.
Indooor losses seem to be about the same as outdoor, but with no
reports over 40% that I've heard.  Outdoor colonies have used a great
deal of feed in comparison by most reports. Of course, all the losses
are not known until May, because colonies surviving now may still
decline.
 
In our own operation, we have some yards around 10% and some at
50%+, so we will likely be around 35% when the dust settles.  This is
double the norm for us.
 
Due to the higher prices for honey, and in some cases, high losses,
larger than usual numbers of package bees & queens will be coming in
from both Australia and New Zealand.
 
The Canada/US border is still closed to importation, and although the
situation is being evaluated regularly, it appears that it will be
for some years to come.  As a result Canadian beekeepers are paying
double what US buyers are for bees -- but then again the bees they
are buying are totally mite free, allowing for operations to maintain
-- or regain -- mite free status.  The down side is that most
commercial producers here say that the NZ and to a lesser extent Aus
bees do not winter as well as the US stock did when we were last able
to obtain it in the 80's.
 
This closed Canadian border has taken pressure off the US package
market at a time when mites have reduced the supply. Imagine if
Canadians demande 50 - 100,000 additional packages from the US.  In
recent years, the US package industry has had trouble supplying the
US market in a timely fashion, so I can project that prices to US
buyers would double.  Even at hugely inflated prices, both Canadians
and US honey producers would have trouble finding enough bees before
May from US producers alone.
 
At any rate, we are hoping for decent spring weather.  After the cool
, unsettled summer last year, and the cold, unrelenting winter, we
are not all that optimistic.  The conditions reported by Dave seem to
indicate that unusual coolnes is general, but the conditions can vary
a lot over a continent.
 
That's the story from here. How are things in the central and western
US?
 
 
Regards
 
Allen
 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                                         VE6CFK
RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta  Canada T0M 1Y0
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Honey. Bees, & Art <http://www.internode.net/~allend/>