Chris Writes:
>I would suggest that with the diligent application of IPM the problem 
may  go
>away.


Hello Chris!

The symptoms I am seeing in my area of Pennsylvania, whether much 
different than that that seen in the south, I do not know.  But it seems 
at least in my area, we are not dealing with a typical varroa 
infestation.  

In early August when I inspected some of these colonies, I remember 
commenting to the owner of the bees about the strange absence of varroa or 
associated symptoms.  July / August are time when varroa peak in our 
area,  and the  apparent lack of varroa was something that I thought 
was ‘out of the norm’ for the time of year.  This suggested to me the 
possibility that varroa may not be a prime suspect in these cases, and 
that symptom of depressed brood rearing may have extended several weeks to 
more than a month earlier, well into the early flow!  

My explanation to the owner of the colonies was that apparently the lack 
of brood production was having a devastating effect on the varroa.  
Actually, the evidence 'as I saw it' seemed to point towards varroa,  as a 
potential victim in this event and not a culprit.  

On the drive back home I was compelled to stop several times to check out 
the local bee forage.  It seemed,  although forage was not as abundant for 
the time of year as I would have liked to see, the affected colonies were 
exhibiting symptoms that I would tend to associate with severe drought.  
IMO, the level of bee forage available (again, not as abundant as usual)  
was not matching the level of  stress I was seeing in these affected 
colonies as far as forage availabilities are concerned.

Best Wishes,

Joe Waggle 
Ecologicalbeekeeping.com 
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' 
Feral Bee Project:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/

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