Faucon, J.-P., Mathieu, L., Ribiere, M., Martel, A.-C., Drajnudel, P.,
Zeggane, S., Aurieres, C and Aubert, M.F.A.(2002) Honey bee winter
mortality in France in 1999 and 2000. Bee World 83, 14-23
Quoted summary:
"Conclusion: beekeepers
should not neglect the
impact of diseases in
winter losses even if
other causes may be
present
Diseases may or may not have been the
original cause of the observed winter losses.
The original causes of winter colony
deaths may be:
●Well known causes such as starvation
due to mismanagement of colonies,
severe winter weather, foulbrood or
other weakening diseases that may have
been latent before winter conditions
stressed the colony17,26.
● The combination of overcrowding
colonies on single-crop fields providing
unbalanced and deficient nutrients in a
multi-residue environment43.
● Any new chemical that may be suspected
to induce a delayed action on foraging
behaviour.
Whatever may be their original main causes,
winter losses are often accompanied by
very aggressive pathogens whose impact
cannot be neglected. Because these
pathogens are well identified, preventive
measures and specific treatments must be
applied. Even for V. destructor, appropriate
treatments significantly increase colony survival
17.
Our opinion is that without neglecting any
effort for clarifying any possible new emerging
cause for winter losses, the application
of classical management methods for preventing
and treating well-known pathogens
remains necessary and beneficial."
These words were from 2002. This was just as N. ceranae was showing
up (nosema found in 30% of dying colonies), but no one knew at that
time. They did not perform specific tests for DWV or KBV/IAPV. The
authors discussed the variety of ineffective treatments that
beekeepers were using to control varroa, etc. Does this scenario
sound familiar to anyone else?
Randy Oliver
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