Hello Bob, Hervé, Peter and all !

Here some other lighting on the elements of this problem.

1/ Moving effect ?  Environmental effect ?

An experiment made by a bee-breeder (he is agricultural engineer) touched
on his main apiary.  In July 2003, he prepared 20 young sister colonies in
this apiary.  Just before the corn blooming he transport half (10) of these
colonies on another apiary with forest, meadows and hedged farmland.
Untill February 2004.  Same climate.
In May, the 10 local colonies all are dead; the 10 moved colonies are
increased and make a confortable summer crop.

2/ Varroa and Virus effects ?  Environmental effect ?

It's the result of an experiment which I made myself last year  ...
 I had four production colonies "not chimically treated against varroa for
3 years" only removing drones brood in the beginning of the year.

I had had 2 colonies in a zone "with problem" for a few years.  And 2
others in the garden of a friend in a residential zone.
This spring, these colonies seemed very different.  Both in my friend
back-yard gave me a total of 49 kg of honey. In spite of an important load
of Varroa.

The 2 others
 ... one colony had died, probably at the beginning of the winter (full
with feed but almost no more bees, the queen and an old dead brood on the
side). Viruses probably !  Why not the 2 others above? Side effects of
small amounts of poison  (picograms!!!?)?  Products or by-products or
degradation products ??? The given (high) half-life is for the main
molecule ... and the others ... One does not speak about it any more, but
they remain in the ground !!!
 ... the other hive was populous in Marth, but I found no more queen.
Requeened, the new queen who laid in her hive stop laying.  I introduced
first an emerging brood frame (Dadant) to try to renovate the cluster ...
no effect.  Then an open brood frame ... the queen lays a half of the side
frame and then disappears. A misery, but bees, a lot of bees of nothing!

====
Seems these anecdotes, among tens of others less clear, but real and always
in the same direction, speak about themselves.  And anecdotes + anecdotes
... it's too much !?

Jean-Marie Van Dyck
Biochemist - now bee-keeper for more than 50 years.
Belgium (EU)

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