Ron Bogansky wrote about winter losses in Pennsylvania:
>I was one of the first to report heavy winter losses....
 >I am pretty sure the rest of the colonies that perished, most of them had
T-mites....
> Bees can stand cold temp, and large clusters on strong colonies will
survive just about anything > but wind chill may be a little more
stressful....
> But a number of my bees come through winter with small clusters and then
build up quite well...
>  All totalled I had about 50% loss.  Other area beekeepers reported
> the same or higher.  We have had T-mites in this area since '92.  I like
> others have been treating ever since.  What was different this year?
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   1.   The effect of tracheal mites on bees colonies may vary from year to
year, so that _any_ treatment method may work on years when the bees are
able to survive t-mites on their own.
   2.  Colonies infested with t-mites should show crawling bees on the
ground for six feet in front of the hive on late winter, warm weather flight
days.
   Some of our eastern Pennsylvania losses are colonies that have not shown
signs of t-mite infestation.  The colonies seem to waste away in late
winter.
    Doesn't this suggest queen problems?  Are our bees superceding in late
summer with queens that are not properly mated because we do not have enough
(or enough variation in) drones?
    Are beekeepers who re-queen in autumn with well-mated queens having the
same winter losses?
Tim
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Tim Sterrett
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(southeastern) Pennsylvania, USA
40.0 N 75.5 W