Lloyd,
I reply to you because I know of your ability.

These winter losses that Dave green asked about seem to be a classic case of
loss by tracheal mites.  After all, England lost 95% of ALL their bees back
in 1920 by tracheal mites (we know that now).
Because the tracheal mite is invisible to the human eye, a great many
beekeepers just ASSUME their bees do have tracheal mites and hence don't
treat.  Further, until
formic acid was approved, the only approved chemical for tracheal mites was
menthol, but menthol HAD to be used in July or August in New England and
beekeepers were not going to foul up their honey crop by using menthol then,
so they
did not use anything.  Diana Sammataro proved that grease patties CONTROLLED
the
population (not killed) of tracheal mites so that colonies did well, BUT
grease patties were labor intensive in that they must be used many months of
the year; so again beekeepers did not bother to treat for tracheal mites.
Many beekeepers
simply do not know how to dissect a bee to examine the trachea under a
microscope, nor do they have a microscope in their back pocket, so they don't
TEST for tracheal
mites.  I dissect my bees, go to the local high school, give the science
teacher some honey, and examine the trachea's with a school microscope.  If I
can do it when I am disabled by strokes, then everybody else can do it too.

Always having 100-200 colonies, I have NEVER lost as colony to tracheal mites
and rarely lose a colony in the winter; but all my colonies get menthol on
August 15th
near Washington, DC and all have grease patties from April to December.

The tracheal NEVER lives in bee BROOD, but ONLY lives in the trachea of an
adult bee and STRANGLES the bee to death almost always in January or early
February  The
classic symptoms are the bees look fine in the fall, but dwindle away in
November and December finally leaving just a handful size cluster with the
queen dead in the hive, but lots of honey stores present.  Nine times out of
ten, if tracheal mite tests are done on these dead bees, you will find
trachea just blocked by tracheal mites.
Horrible way to die, strangling for breath.

Lloyd, people look up to you, so help them by encouraging them to treat for
tracheal mites, and teach them about tracheal mite infestation.  I can't do
it from Maryland, because New England people are engrossed that their winters
are tougher than mine;
but bees have survived for thousands of years in upper Canada, Alaska, and
now the Russian bees (a stock of Carniolans) are from Siberia near
Vladivostok in Siberia.
COLD does NOT kill healthy bees - God saw to that! -  But cold will sure help
kill
sick bees.

I sure hope you are coming to EAS 2000, so we can sit down and solve all the
bee problems in this world.  I keep trying, but I need help!

I hope Beecrofter, John Mitchell, and Dave Green read this.

I hope I have helped.

George