Hello All,
In my part of the world spring is just around the corner.  In a few weeks
the maples will be blooming and a new season will be underway.  A thought
that usually excites most beekeepers is depressing to me this year.  For
some reason, I lost more colonies this year than any other since I started
beekeeping.  Usually I have very little winter loss.  Even back in '95 or
'96 I lost very few colonies when other beekeepers were sustaining huge
losses in this area.  In past years the colony strength is so good that I
make a number of nucs and sell them in the spring.  The last time (8 or 9
years) I had a huge loss was the first time I came up against T-mites.  I
didn't think I had them and didn't treat for them.  But since then I have
not had any problems.

I knew something was wrong in December.  I noticed on a warm day two
colonies were being robbed out.  Upon investigation the colony had collapsed
and there were no bees present.  I wanted, and probably still do, to blame
it on varroa.  I never lost colonies in the fall.  When I first was hit with
varroa the colonies I lost died in late summer. My treatment for varroa has
been the same since I encountered them.  I use Apistan in the late summer
and I also use some mineral oil on top bars whenever I work a colony.  I
felt that only using it once a year would slow down resistance.  I also
viewed the mineral oil as a secondary treatment that would also help the
resistance problem.  I did not notice many mites this year at all. I always
check drone brood every time I work a colony.  In fact I found only one
colony in July that was being hit.  I thought I would try an experiment.
There was a large number of dead bees in front of the colony.  I thought
maybe a pesticide problem.  They did have mites.  What I did was split the
colony in three.  I treated each one for mites and I gave them some brood
to help them out and a queen cell. My thought was that a break in the brood
cycle would expose the mites for treatment.  They built up and went into
winter fairly strong.  These colonies are still surviving.

A number of beekeepers in the area including most of the commercial ones
were all going to use the chumophos (sp?) just in case they had resistance.
I wasn't convinced I had any resistant mites in fact as I already stated I
didn't see much mite activity at all.  In early September I started the
menthol treatment. The colonies were strong and looked like they would
winter well.  I always leave the fall flow for the bees so I don't bother
much after October 1st.  Two months later was when I noticed the dead
colonies.  In early January I checked the colonies and found one more had
died.  I didn't open any colonies but confirmed the other colonies were
still alive.  Most of these were requeened with purchased queens in the
Spring.  Then we had some really cold weather.  Haven't had a winter this
cold in a long time.

The snow had melted enough this weekend to allow me to check another yard
and I found more had died.  These had small clusters and probably couldn't
take the cold.  I don't know if the beekeepers in my area that used the
chumopos did any better.

I am not totally sure what happened here. In fact I have been debating
whether to post this or not since Christmas because I don't think I gave
enough information for anyone to be able to figure it out. But there are
some really good beekeepers on this list so I thought I would throw it out
for discussion.  We have a saying at work "One oh no, erases 100 atta boys".
I guess just when I thought I was really understanding and doing well after
all these years, I am still a novice.


Ron Bogansky
Kutztown, (eastern) PA, USA