Hi Kerry
 
Concerning the group of hives treated in the fall, the "symptoms" you describe
suggest to me the following:
 
that the queens would have disappeared (probably killed by the bees) following
the formic acid treatment;
 
that the colonies would have raised emergency queens from the brood left; (was
there any brood left at the time of the treatment?)
 
that these new virgins could not mate because because of the poor weather and
maybe the absence of drones in the fall;  (what are the weather conditions like
at the time of the year the treatment was done?)
 
and finally they became drone layers.
 
 
How extensively is the formic acid used to control the tracheal mites and the
varroa mites in British Columbia?  Do you still see it as a promising tool to
control the mites?  I heard from beekeepers from the canadian Prairies that
there was a specific range or temperature to use the formic.  I heard that queen
losses would occur only when the formic was used in warm weather.  What is your
experience on this.  Do you get many reports of queen loss?
 
I whish to use fluvalinate and menthol as little as possible when the mites get
in our hives.  I was seeing formic as a good prospect.  The members of club API
here in Quebec would like to experiment with it with the help of Peter Keating.
We should keep in close contact on this.
 
I would be pleased to translate and publish in our bee magazine any material on
this subject.
 
 
Winter is still present here: still 24 inches of snow on the ground in many
places around here!
 
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Jean-Pierre Chapleau                     phone: (819)828-3396
1282, rang 8,                                fax:      (819)828-2248
Saint-Adrien de Ham, QUEBEC, CANADA
Canada, J0A 1C0                          [log in to unmask]
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