In a message dated 99-02-16 10:30:37 EST, [log in to unmask]
(thiele.consult) writes:
 
 << I know lots of beekeepers loosing many hives per year (in Germany 1997 the
whole loss was estimated with at least with 60%. >>
 
     When there are winter losses like this, someone needs to remove pollen
from the comb of the deadouts and lab check for pesticide residues.
 
     Bees will gather contaminated pollen in the summer, and perhaps suffer
only minor losses, because the pollen is diluted with other fresh pollen. The
stored pollen is covered by fresh pollen and/or honey through the fall.
 
    But, in mid-winter, when no fresh pollen is available, the bees uncover
the contaminated pollen and they are especially vulnerable.
 
    I have taken frames of comb with pollen from winter deadouts and used them
when I put a 5 frame nuc into a 10 frame hive. Immediately a nice queen, who
was laying like a gangbuster in the nuc, begins to look poor. The brood
becomes spotty. It's not that the queen is failing, but that the brood is
being fed contaminated pollen. Brood is dying and being removed.
 
    I believe this is a much more common winter loss problem that beekeepers
realize; no one is testing, because it is not suspected.
 
Dave Green   SC  USA
The Pollination Home Page   http://www.pollinator.com
The Pollination Scene   http://members.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
 
Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop on the Internet  (honey & beeswax candles)
http://members.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm