>Gene Ash
>Comments like poorly managed and mite and virus riddled are almost always SPECULATIVE comments (and often time not much more than gossip).

I agree these are sometimes speculative, but not in this instance. We've been monitoring 50+ colonies for treatment regime, mite levels, virus load and overwinter survival managed by amateur beekeepers. Some colonies had mite counts of 5,000 - 15,000 and DWV levels were of the order of 10^10 genome equivalents per bee. Winter losses were commensurate with this at ~55%.

Whilst we might not be smart enough to tell people exactly how to manage their bees, the principles are well-established - good observation, intervention when appropriate using a treatment in the approved manner. 

It's interesting that there are regulations in place for the management of a variety of livestock, but generally not for bees (when these are often considered livestock). The livestock regulations are there to protect the livestock - where you could consider preventing undue suffering is an ethical issue - and to prevent disease transmission to other species (including sometimes to humans). 

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