>Even taking season variances and location into consideration did these ten colonies seem significantly stronger than what you remember from years past or in comparison to other colonies you've observed this year?<


At this point, I'd say the colonies are all strong but not significantly stronger than previous years although they seem healthier. 

This year is distinct in another way. Folks that pollinate orchards around here (going back thirty years) say that they have never seen the fruit bloom occur as late as it did this year, and that held true for all the spring blooms on my calendar. As a consequence, even though the colonies wintered better than most years they backed off a little in April. Maybe the cleanup of phoretics last November and the slow brood-up in spring was a deadly combination for varroa. 


Bill Hesbach
Cheshire CT

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