James,
Excellent post. I know I have probably had EFB, Chalkbrood, tracheal mites, and
noxema and never saw it in my hives. Might even have had sackbrood. All of
these the bees can usually handle, especially early in the honey season, and
there usually is nothing around to show it happened, even with chalkbrood!
I was very suprised to see how prevelant EFB is in the blueberry fields. Since
I have blueberries near the hives, I know I probably had EFB but never saw it
since as soon as the blueberry season is over,  generally so is the EFB.
As far as seeing problems with your bees, I thought 20 pounds per hive in my
area in Maine was normal until I changed to George I's methods and now expect
50. So not seeing problems does not mean they are not there.
Bill Truesdell
Bath, ME
 
 
James C Bach wrote in part:
 
> You simply cannot evaluate a colony's health by looking at the bees, though
> you may be able to make some observations about the colony's condition.
> That is why scientists insist that research colonies be essentially equal
> in all respects, that treated and control colonies be used, and accurate
> measurements be taken, before any deductions may be made about the success
> or failure of a treatment.  But I will suggest further, that there are a
> significant number of things going on in the colony, like larval
> survivability, queen attractiveness, etc. that are also influencing the
> outcome of the treatments we apply.
> Does this help you look and think differently about your observations,
> perceptions, and experience?  Then I have obtained my goal in writing this.
>
> Best wishes all.
>
> James C. Bach
> WSDA State Apiarist
> Yakima WA
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