Talking with some of the beekeepers in my area that use treatments. -I am hearing from a few, -that they did not treat their colonies at all this season and do not plan to, -due to the relative low mite pressure which appears to be prevalent in this area and in their colonies, -and also due to the productivity and strength their colonies are exhibiting this season --- Ill say it first,,, 'non virulent mites' may be the reason. if so, we are happy to have these 'nice mites' here. I was happy to see that neighboring beekeepers are using treatments responsibly, and not just applying treatments routinely. I do have some of an issue with the insinuation that treatment-free causes bee losses, OR is a cause of bee losses. -If I may clarify, I tend to have issues with most bee losses which are blamed on 'single causes'. Colony crashes are IMO very much like a plane crash, it will nearly always be discovered that a combination of factors contributed to the colonies demise. Just because a treatment-free beekeeper sustains a colony loss, does not a 'cause make'. This is a fundamental principal of beekeeping which I teach the new-bees, -you need to evaluate the colony, to determine what the 'causes' were. As I discovered in my area. In the years prior to a population developing a sustainable relationship with mites. You will begin to see causes which compound into bee losses sway away from mite related symptoms, and toward symptoms typical of bee loses in the old days. During this period, although mites and related maladies may have contributed to the loss, -they are no longer can be determined to be a main factor in the loss. Losses may still be heavy, but this is a key shift in the recovery process, indicating the population is still under mite pressure, but has nearly achieved a sustainable relationship with mites and associated maladies. And soon, -as the stage we are in at my area, -mites are relegated to a minor status in relation to the main factors which contribute to colony losses. Best Wishes J. Waggle SW PA http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles/message *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm