In a message dated 96-04-14 01:02:18 EDT, you write:
 
>Subj:  Lack of feral swarms
>Date:  96-04-14 01:02:18 EDT
>From:  [log in to unmask] (Michael Lance High Sr.)
>Sender:        [log in to unmask] (Discussion of Bee Biology)
>Reply-to:      [log in to unmask] (Discussion of Bee Biology)
>To:    [log in to unmask] (Multiple recipients of list BEE-L)
>
>I recived 4 packages of bees this week which I installed to replace
>swarms lost over the winter.The weather has been warm here in central Va.
>for several weeks,and usually during this time,scouts from feral colonies
>will be out investigating my hives.This year, since they were empty, I
>expected many vistors.Eerily, not one bee have I observed.More ominously,
>there is a telling absence of bees on dandelions & fruit blossoms in my
area.
>I had'nt noticed how empty it seemed until I installed my new
>bees.Suddenly, it seemed more normal.Today, I took a walk in the woods to
>scout out any feral swarms working in the warm air.For the first time in
>my 25 years of bee-keeping, I found NOT 1 feral colony. It appears that
>mites have decimated colonies for several miles around me.To my
>knowledge, I am the only bee-keeper for at least 5 miles.The absence of
>wild colonies, while alarming,gives me some hope that my new swarms may
>not be as readily infected this year since bee to bee contact will be
>limited.What truely frightens me is the extinction of the wild bees.While
>this opens foraging for my swarms,it means a heavy decline in pollination
>for miles around.This underscores the seriousness of the mite problems
>now facing the American honey bee.It would seem the survial of the
>species is now seriously in jepordy.
>                         MLHigh
 
 
   You said it!   Better than anyone I've seen yet.  May I have permission to
reproduce your letter on my web site?  Thanks.
 
[log in to unmask]    Dave Green,  PO Box 1200,  Hemingway,  SC  29554
 
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