Hello Fellow Beekeepers,
 
I'm a hobbyist with 6 hives in SE Pennsylvania.
This spring I tried queen rearing by the Doolitle
method and was successful in setting up 5 four
frame Nucs and an observation hive. The queens
mated and started laying good brood patterns.
Very satisfying. I had planned to use these
queens for a fall requeening.
        Four of my six main hives had a great
spring and there was a good honey flow. This
area of PA was hit very hard last year with
Verroa mites.  I robbed my colonies earlier
than usual in mid-June, so that I could treat
them with Apistan strips. I inspected them for
Verroa and found a number in the drone
brood cells. I put the strips in all hives and
Nucs in  early July.
        In mid-July, we started a heat wave
that lasted three weeks with a small break, and
now seems to be back again. In the last week
or so the Nucs have been dying or  absconding.
In two cases, there were no bees and
abandoned brood. In two others, there was a
massive die off, with 90% dead bees on the
bottom board. Yesterday, I found a Nuc queen
balled, trying to enter an adjacent hive.
        Can anyone suggest a cause for this
dissappointing turn of events? Is this the
mysterious PMS (parasitic mite syndrome)?
Is the honey dearth causing robbing (not
obvious), or are the Nucs starving? Is it heat
related combined with the Apistan strips?
The large colonies have gigantic
bee beards at night.
        Thanks for any feedback.
 
        Tom Hochheimer
        520 Saybrooke lane
        Downingtown, PA  19335
 
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