> question for you Bob, in view of Randy's observation that most commercial > outfits he knows have low rates of colony loss,as do you. > Just for clarification, I was only referring to the Calif package bee producers. I know plenty of commercial operations that experienced high losses. I've also spoken with those who received bees from out of state to place into almonds. Many arrived crawling with mites or in poor shape otherwise. On the other hand, one beekeeper in the Illinois corn belt walked up to me and said that he sent 2400 of his 2600 hives to almonds. I've asked others with bees in corn areas to report as they finally open their hives this spring. I'm generally hearing of decent winter survival. I would appreciate hearing from any on the List with bees in corn, and who kept mites under control, how your colonies survived the winter. You can write me off list to avoid the flak from disbelievers. Another buddy, an exceptional Calif commercial beekeeper, whose hives summered in the Dakotas or on Calif agricultural wasteland ramped his colonies up with pollen supp to the point that he sold shook bees in January, and still took the strong shaken hives to almonds. Since the first reports of CCD, I've been following the differences between those that supply strong hives to almonds each season, and especially those who supply package bees each season, against those who always seem to have problems. I'm fully aware, as Bob points out, that none want to have their names publicly associated with CCD. They are far more candid at the Calif Queen Breeders meetings. The consistently successful have a few management techniques in common: 1. They keep varroa levels down all the time, and never let them climb in summer. Those that have allowed varroa to climb invariably suffered subsequent crashes. 2. They make sure that colonies in late summer are either on good forage, or they feed lots of pollen supplement. 3. If they go to summer pollination, they allow their hives to recover afterward on good forage. >The losses are real! reason needs found. Bob, are you saying that drought over 60% of the country, following a warm, varroa-breeding winter, coupled with lack of Taktic for mite control, are not enough reasons to explain unusually high colony losses? Are you saying that neonicotinoid use suddenly increased last season, resulting in higher losses than in previous years? If so, please share your sources of information. >the problem is too big for the USDA to handle? Bob, you have always said that it is up to beekeepers to handle their problems, and that they lead the researchers. Some beekeepers have apparently figured out how to handle the problems, and those are the ones that I choose to learn from. > >Virus is a good scapegoat. Especially since they are so demonstrably effective at killing colonies. -- Randy Oliver Grass Valley, CA www.ScientificBeekeeping.com *********************************************** 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