> I sure can not blame it on the "evil migratory guys" bringing in diseases and mites like some people claim. 

Well, here's the thing. New York is the #3 state for apples, and tens of thousands of hives are moved in to pollinate every May. Many of these beekeepers then fan out all over New York State to try to get a honey crop in summer. 

When I worked as a bee inspector I noticed a much higher incidence of small hive beetle on the Interstate 90 corridor. The further from the apples you went, the fewer hive beetles. I occasionally see hive beetles in my hives but not very often. 

Most of those pollinating beekeepers winter their bees in Florida. If there was some sort of epidemic it could definitely be moved from Florida to NYS and on to MA and ME. I assume that BeeInformed has data from all these areas, but they don't seem to be mapping it out. 

I think the very high DWV levels have something to do with the die back, but I can't be sure of it without being able to see the data from other regions mapped out. At present the BeeInformed maps just show state by state, which is not anywhere near as helpful as county by county. 

PLB

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