So, the only common denominator for all three early dead hives was MAQS. 

So how many of the hives that were treated lived?  Are there more that survived than died??  




MAQS have been known to kill queens. I put my guess as to the guilty party on the MAQS. They were applied according to label with the correct temperature and location of the MAQS. When we broke down the dead hives the MAQS were intact, they had not been removed from the hives, in fact looked untouched.


You left them on??  They were there when the hive died??  First off they would be intact,  bees do little to remove MAQS,  and they are supposed to be removed by us.   I don't recall ever seeing them chewed,  but I remove them when I use them.



If this had not happened to three of us under the exact same circumstances the usual culprit would have been Varroa, but with three distinctly different colonies, one of which had near zero Varroa, it does not wash.

What ticks me off is that the beekeepers I mentor could have had bees this spring. The one who lost his last colony to dysentery and starvation did not put the sugar frame over the bees in early March, but over the inner cover and they never got to it. I consider that to be my fault since they did not understand my directions. Not sure what happened to the others hive as noted. But they would have had a chance to enjoy their bees in the spring.



So my guess is MAQS. This would have been a good trial for them as you had three different colonies, different bees, different beekeepers, different Varroa loads, but only one common factor, MAQS, which were applied correctly to all the colonies and came from the same vendor.

Correlation is not causation.   3 newbies loose hives?  Heck us experienced guys lose them all the time.



I am done with MAQS. They do damage brood and kill queens even when applied correctly. I have "tells" which are pieces of carpet in front of my hives which I use to check out what the bees throw out of the hive. After MAQS there are loads of once healthy dead brood and bees. If I treat with Formic Pads or OA vapor there are none.  

How do you know they were healthy?  Dead is dead.   Yes I see brood loss also with formic.  Timed right its no big deal.  The price you pay for a "NOW treatment" is sacrifice of brood.   In fact dead brood for me is an indicator it is getting in cappings.    I see the sdame issue with formic pads a MAQS.




More anecdotal evidence- I spoke to the new State Bee Inspector about my suppositions and she said that there have been other reports of the same thing. So has there been a recent reformulation of MAQS?

And how many others lost hives that didn't use MAQS???



3 dead hives  MONTHS after treatment and we blame MAQS??  Should have been plenty of time for beekeeper observation and intervention........I would put them in a whole other category first.


WE are limited on the Kosher and legal things we actually have.  MAQS has been one of them,  and helpful for many years now.  Of course there are potential issues,  but followed label directions, (remove them) watch your dosage and temp,  and they are a fine treatment.  As for queen damage,  that should have been checked for in the fall?  Did she resume laying?   We should be careful and have some sort of real evidence before disparaging a product like this.  Seems to me 3 dead hobby hives doesn't pass that standard.  JMO.   MAQS stays in my toolbox.





Charles

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