According to Dr. Pettis he is investigating failing queens, a syndrome in commercial outfits, mostly on the east coast. They followed a couple of beekeepers from FL to ME and back, doing pollination. A certain percentage of queens began to lay spotty brood and eventually the hive fails. Upon examination many of these queens had dead sperm in the 50% range [normal is +85%]. This year they are going to try to determine what is causing this. They will investigate pesticides, miticides, etc. They are also doing some studies on west coast queens. He had lots of questions, few answers.

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