Hello Everyone,
Back in Feb. I was one of the first to report heavy winter losses.  I had
some colonies perish in late Nov.  I attributed this to varroa, although I
treated with Apistan.  Some were treated earlier than others but there was
no pattern as to suggest a relationship.  I also treated all colonies with
menthol.  The menthol was on well before our Penn State University
prescribed cut off date for this area.  In early Jan.  I was showing about
20% loss.  I am pretty sure the rest of the colonies that perished, most of
them had T-mites.  Plenty of stores, small cluster.  However I can't help
but note that the yards that were in the open without wind protection
suffered the greatest. We had a very severe cold spell in late Jan. with
high winds.  Holly trees that have been growing for years looked terrible
except for areas below the snow line.  (My wife, a Master Gardner, worked at
the Philadelphia Flower Show garden problem area.  The biggest problem this
spring, reported by gardeners, was winter kill.)

Bees can stand cold temp, and large clusters on strong colonies will survive
just about anything but wind chill may be a little more stressful.  My
strongest survivors were in wind protected areas.  One yard, the farthest
away and usually the most neglected, did the best with 100% survival and
very strong spring clusters.  I treated the bees in this yard last.  I
"think" that sometimes nature culls the weak with abnormal occurrences.  I
think in a normal winter a number of the colonies that perished would have
survived, albeit not very strong.  But a number of my bees come through
winter with small clusters and then build up quite well in spring without
swarming and yielding a good honey crop.  For the last few seasons we have
had warm autumns.  There was a lot of activity late with no nectar sources.
Bees were burning up winter stores early.  I started looking for colonies
that shut down brood rearing in the fall and went into winter with smaller
clusters.  I would raise queens from these so maybe I was selecting for a
trait that could not handle the change in weather.  Again, I know T-mites
are part of the problem but I am not convinced I can blame everything on
mites.  All totaled I had about 50% loss.  Other area beekeepers reported
the same or higher.  We have had T-mites in this area since '92.  I like
others have been treating ever since.  What was different this year?

Funny Note:  I am writing this at 20,000 feet while returning home from a
business trip.  We received our first swarm call today.  In a year where I
need bees I am 2500 miles away from the swarm.  My wife told me about the
call that came in this morning.  She can't go get this one so they will have
to wait for me to get home, around 6:00 p.m..  Any bets as to how soon
before I arrive swarm will leave.  Maybe there is a record for the longest
distance traveled chasing swarms.  This is what keeps it fun.

Further Note:  Because of the "I Love You" virus, I was unable to mail this
until today.  The swarm left not long after they called.  Probably would not
have captured it if I was home.  However, I did get a swarm.  I have some of
the hive bodies stacked up from the dead colonies.  A swarm took up
residency.  The queen was marked "pink" although I guess it is suppose to be
red.  I know it wasn't one of mine, and the nearest beekeeper is a few miles
away.  I guess you win some and lose some.

Ron Bogansky
Kutztown, (eastern) PA, USA