>
> >By the way, I object to the dismissive tone of the previous post, which
> seems to regard a beekeeper with problems as somehow behind the curve. I
> know many extremely knowledgable beekeepers who still suffer severe losses,
> despite trying everything under the sun to get their bees in shape.


I know a number of commercial beekeepers who appear to be ahead of the
curve, yet all knock on wood every season.  Few would have the hubris to
claim that they have figured everything out.

The common factors for success that I see involve keeping varroa levels low
all year round, moving away from fluvalinate and coumaphos, regular
splitting of colonies, paying attention to timing, staying away from
pesticides, and perhaps most important, making sure that colonies always
have adequate protein.

Nosema ceranae only appears to be an apparent factor for some--a number
simply ignore it.  I spent the day in New Zealand recently with Gilles
Ratia, the president of Apimondia, who has visited beekeepers in nearly
every country of the world.  He considers N ceranae to be a non inssue.

Just reporting what I see, with no conclusions.

Randy Oliver

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