>>> John Chesnut to explain why he was so confident in thinking that mites explain why bees abandon a hive <<<

You misinterpret my comment.  I very much doubt the bees absconded.  The colony died.  

I suggested the original poster inspect the brood frame for the tell-tale guanine deposits left behind by mites.  The period between the last inspection (September) and when the hived was determined to be dead (November) corresponds to the period of rapid and irreversible decline on the Central Coast of California.   

Hives can and do die in a week in this period.  Whether is one of many Virii or the virulent asian Nosema is sometimes difficult to determine.  

The common feature in these collapses is a failure to handle the mite load in August, and consequently a failure to brood hardy winter bees.   The transition from warm Indian summer (driven by a hot ocean) to winter chill and damp was abrupt this year on the California coast, and hives dropped like flies in the transition.

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