REGARDING A better fall than last year. I just got back from removing all the Apistan strips I put in near the end of August. It was a beautiful week in Michigan, and the bees were having as much fun as I was. This year I got the Apistan in early and carefully followed the label directions, putting in two strips per hive body, and leaving them in for almost two months. I was very pleased to find every single colony (78) at full strength, packed with honey, brood and bees. Last year at this time I had already lost a third of my bees, with most of the rest obviously going downhill. My overall losses last year were 75%. Now I'm optomistic about the future - we can lick the mite menace. We have Apistan now, maybe it can be supplemented with essential oils, giving the industry time to develop lines with natural resistance. And who knows, we should be ready to face even Tropilaelops (sp?) when (if) it comes. Ted Fischer