There have been a lot of statements made in the past decade that winter losses are much higher than in the good ole days. This runs counter to the facts, as evidenced by the following from 100 years ago.

Peter -

I hear what you are saying, but my personal experience is that my losses are much greater now than when I first kept bees in the pre-varroa era.  What also adds to the conundrum is that I felt in those earlier years of my time with the bees I would feel confident in understanding why a colony died, much like the 100 year old quote you provided.  Today I often have unexplained deaths that I then attribute to one of the mysterious viruses I cannot control.

Perhaps it is just egotism, but I would like to think that with years I have become a more skillful beekeeper, but to justify that I need to use something other than my survival rate.

Each spring I begin with the hope that this year will be the year with an amazing survival rate worthy of bragging about - fantasy is an important part in the life of a beekeeper.

Larry Krengel

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