I lost 4 out of 4 new queens this Spring. Two of the queens had travelled with two new packages that were started in a new (for me) very promising location with lots of blooming clover. The packages started out like gangbusters bringing in gobs of nectar and so I released the queens after 5 days since the candy plug had not been totally chewed through. The two queens had continued to look very healthy and energetic at that point. About 5 days later there was no sign of the two queens nor of any brood. in the two packages. I then purchased two new queens from another source and tried introducing those queens. This time I waited until the candy plug had been chewed out before checking the start-ups. Some brood had been started but the hives looked lackluster and diseased so I didn't want to risk augmenting them with brood from other colonies. From that point the hives went even more quickly downhill and the queens disappeared and no further brood was produced. It looked like Parasitic Mite Syndrome, but without the mites.
          I have had a terible time starting up packages the last few years. I think the bees are either coming through diseased, or the queens are diseased, or that local pesticides (imidacloprid on neighbors immaculate lawns ?) are responsible. Whatever the cause, conditions have definitely been worse for me for the past few years for introducing quens and raising bees from packages.
                                            Ernie Huber

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