Hello Peter & All,
Excellent post! I in fact printed the post off for reference later if 
needed! If you explained your comments in further detail would make a nice 
chapter for a beekeeping book on wintering in the far north.

Most of what you said applies to my area in a severe winter.

The one question you asked was if I thought the Mid Feb. kill off was 
"summer bees really stretching it out or winter bees".

My guess would be summer bees. For years we sent bees to California as they 
came from the field busting with bees. No problemo! We graded those hives 
number 1's. When we ran out of number 1's we combined two number 2 marked 
hives. Number threes always stayed home but were in great shape for summer 
honey flows.

The system worked fine until last year  when graders were not seeing what 
we saw before shipment. In short many summer bees were dying right before 
shipment or during the long trip enroute to almonds. Giving California 
graders the benifit of the doubt.

Although myself and other Midwestern beekeepers had serious problems with 
the way hives are graded going into almonds this season we are listening 
and we ARE looking close at WINTER BEES & BROOD in hives which may go to 
California.

It is not an easy chore (and a new chore for us) to grade  a hive in 
Aug./Sept. on bees/brood/winter bees instead of simply number of frames of 
bees.

Actually I have taken what California brokers & beekeepers said last year 
to a new level. Once I have mastered the methods I might try and teach 
other out of state beekeepers.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison

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