> This is what I observed in my operation in the winter of 2005/2006, the year before Hackenberg's debut. Apparently independent of mites. Also, in the initial news reports, they were saying mite levels were low. Well, they would be low in fall after a hard knockdown with Maverick or whatever. Also, sometimes colonies lose a lot of mites when the foragers die off. It seems to be a way that mites can distribute themselves, as well as a way that a colony rids itself of them. PLB *********************************************** 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