> This time of year thoughts turn to the problem of mite dispersal. It is
> not clear how varroa is able to disperse so rapidly, but there was interest
> in this topic early on.


I was thinking about this after the inspection of my colonies and finding
no mites.

For several years I had a "natural" beekeeper whose bees were literally
across the street. Their bees never made it through the winter and every
year, even though they started fresh, I had mites. Before they moved in I
had little trouble with my bees, to the point that I was able to experiment
with different treatments with the knowledge that they would still make it
through the winter, and they did.

That all changed with their arrival. And it has changed back with their
departure.

I allowed them to keep one hive in my yard over the winter two years ago.
When my bees were inspected by the State inspector, I was on the threshold
for treatment while their bees had twice the mite load of mine. Plus they
had sacbrood.

With their departure, my bees are healthy and miteless. So, I have no
problem with the fact that if you have a beekeeper who does not control
mites in the area, you are going to have mites plus other possible
problems. The mites do disperse.

Which I why I offed to mentor a new beekeeper up the hill from me and we
both treat at the same time ( I provided the strips) and both have no mites.

I did borrow from Randy's trials and treated in the spring lightly (2 65%
drylock pads, once)  and then later, after clover, with the full treatment
(in this case MAQS). I intend to give them one more treatment like the
spring treatment in a couple of weeks in case  there are hives in the area
that crash from Varroa..

I was told the now moved "natural' beekeeper told others that the reason
they could not get through the winter was because I treated and was not a
"natural" beekeeper. I love irony.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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