The deadouts I have checked do not show varroa scat or PMS larva. I do not 
see varroa as a *big* factor.

bob

Bob this statement really makes me wonder about you and your objectivity. 
Last year this country experienced a drought similar to the infamous dust 
bowl.  Bees went into the fall in poor shape nutritionally, and with low 
numbers of winter bees.
Rumor has it that the supply of Tacktic ran out, and in a year that gave the 
varroa mite at least an extra month to reproduce, thousands of hives went 
into the winter with huge loads of mites.
We truly live in a sea of neonics.  They are used on everything, but the 
hive die outs are not everywhere.  There are beekeepers, big and small, that 
have not experienced huge hive losses.  Some of us have great bees.
Neonics may well be a part of the problem, but if they are it is with a 
combination of factors.  The evidence just does not support them being the 
major culprit in the die offs. Unless someone comes up with a smoking gun, 
the neonics are not going anywhere.  We need to concentrate our efforts on 
something we can do something about, that being varroa.
Dave 

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