I was watching this video and 44 seconds into it I see a beekeeper pull a frame from a dead out hive and what is still in the hive? An Apivar strip. Evidently it was left there all winter. Later in the video it shows down in the hive with another Apivar hanging on a wooden match. I can only assume it has been left in the hive all winter. http://whotv.com/2014/03/19/honeybees-hurting-cold-winter-takes-heavy-toll/ Karen, You know its been a cold winter when you find that the bees have resorted to foraging matches. ;) Good observation! But what caught my attention was that the beekeeper called 200 bees a 'cluster'. Now, without a detailed look, it's hard to make a diagnosis, but typically, I find that a cluster of very few bees in late winter is suggestive of a colony having issues prior to winter. Perhaps, it should have been combined then, and would, under good management practices, should not be counted as a winter loss. Just because a colony is found dead during or after winter, does not make it a winter loss. IMO Joe *********************************************** 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