> In my yards and are very few hives 
> "collapse" in the fall.  
> most are winter losses.  
> Not sure if that data is a regional 
> issue,  or something else is in play.   
> Assuming simple "drift"  most hives 
> would actually just equalize.

But it is not drift, it is robbing.
One can see a significant uptick in the mite drop-count when the fall blooms
end, and foragers turn to robbing.  

I've been pitching this idea at the state and local level to beekeepers for
a few years now, and enough people have confirmed my findings to be fairly
certain that what is happening here is NOT drift, and not local robbing
among your own colonies, but instead, the robbing out of both dying feral
hives and "treatment -free" hives as they grow weak.  The only solution is
to convince one's neighbors to put in entrance reducers, so that these hives
can "defend themselves better in fall", even though the actual problem is
that they are very weak, and the beekeeper is not noticing.

So, as I've said, Genesis 4:9 to the contrary, you may not want to be your
brother's keeper, but it is in your own best interest to be your bothers
BEEkeeper.

The hives you save will be your own.

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