On Thu, 4 May 1995, Matt Ter Molen wrote:
 
> After two depressing springs in a row, I had a wonderful surprise two
> months ago when inspecting my hives here in northern Illinois.  All 7
> made it through the winter (albeit a mild one) with large clusters and
> plenty of brood.  Last weekend I finished splitting the hives and now
> have 10 strong hives with around 12 frames of brood.  The question I
> want to address members of this list is, are we winning the battle
> against tracheal mites?  I have treated all of my hives the same for the
> last three years (apistan for the recommended period of time, terramycin
> for EFB, fumidil-B) and I have left them plenty of late season honey, no
> t syrup, for winter stores.  The last two springs were filled with
> dead hives, little brood, and very small clusters.  Since my management
> scheme hasn't changed that much I was wondering if we had finally turned
> the corner on some of the problems with tracheal mites.  This was
> reinforced by an article that appeared in the Illinois State Beekeepers
> Assoc. Newsletter.  In the article, they quote Dr. Roger Hoopingarner
> who states that in Michigan, colony infestation has dropped from 20 to
> 80% in 1991 and 1992 to 1 to 2% in 1993.  Has anyone else found themselv
> es in a better situation?  Does this follow a similar pattern in Europe?
>
I see nothing that you did that would improve your tracheal mite
situation.  However, I, too, have heard of beekeepers who did nothing and
found the tracheal mite problem reduced.
 
Eric