The following message came in the other day and I thought that I'd share it
with the list.  Maybe someone has some ideas?

--- begin message --

I'm a beekeeper running 700 colonies... Our major source of income is
blueberry pollination which I consider to be both a curse and a blessing.
In the winter of 2001-2002, I lost over 500 colonies to what was attributed
to Apistan resistance
<snip>
...it was time to pick up the pieces and change management techniques which
involved among other things  equipping all colonies with screened bottom
boards, constant monitoring and queen rearing from the surviving stock.
Prior to this loss, I requeened faithfully with commercial queens and quite
frankly was not entirely satisfied with the product

I used coumophos for one season and have relied on formic acid since then
with a late fall clean up using oxalic (evaporator) with good results.
Winter losses have been in the 4% and 8% range for the 2003 and 2004
winters.

I have been using the Jenter kit to obtain larvae of the correct age and
then use a modified swarm box as a starter for 24 hours after which the
cells are transferred to the second hive body above an excluder for
finishing. I've been getting excellent queens that are well adapted to my
area's harsh conditions and my question is why am I getting a higher than
normal percentage of dud cells this year. The cells look good when
transferring them to the finisher and also when counting them on the 4th day
after transfer but when they are harvested, I find up to 20% are not viable.
These cells are capped over and have a brownish tip but otherwise look
normal. I hold them up to the sunlight and if I cannot see a pupae I cull
them and open them up to find an off white larvae turning to brown. The mess
does not string out and if left long enough it turns rubbery. If I miss one,
I find it in the nuc when checking mating and It has not been torn down

Colonies used as breeders and as starter/finishers have no visible signs of
sacbrood or any other brood diseases and mite loads are low to non-existent.
There is not a problem in the id of bad cells but it is a pain in the butt
to try and plan 6 frame nucs requirements for cell harvest day. I wish I had
of thought of taking some digital pictures to help you in forming an opinion
but this is not an option now as the season is drawing to a close.

I look forward to your input and realize that thus is akin to trying to give
someone a haircut over the phone. Any ideas would be appreciated.

--- end message --

allen

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