dave> 'They loose their bees and 
create a sink of disease and mites to contaminate the beehives around them.'

i wonder if all the collapses due to mites and viruses (from non-treated as well as treated hives),

were from afb instead....

wouldn't the state apiary units be doing something about it?

but consider how many more hives are lost each year from mites and viruses compared to afb.

what's the point of having removable frame laws and the registering of hives if not to prevent the propagation of 'sinks of disease and mites', that could ultimately have a domino effect on nearby colonies.

if i knew of a beekeeper,  (treatments or not),  who was not taking responsibility for his/her hives, to the point of letting them collapse, and there after getting robbed out by my bees or any other bees,

and if a 'friendly' discussion with such a beekeeper didn't work,

i would be calling my state inspector.

most beekeepers who treat, and some who don't treat, take care of business one way or the other to prevent this.

however, some treatment free beekeepers purposely allow their colonies to die completely out, the so called 'bond' method.  to me this is irresponsible.  i wonder if this is why some treatment free beekeepers do alright for some seasons, and lose their whole yard in another season, i.e. from a domino effect. it makes me wonder how many neighboring hives are lost in this manner as well.

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