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Date: | Thu, 27 Jun 1996 08:23:29 EST |
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Gentlepeople:
I have been following the thread on the BEE-L that concerns
observations of little brood in the brood nest with a certain
amount of concern.
I noticed in one of my stronger hives last weekend that there
was no brood, no eggs, nothing. In its sister hive two feet
away I found a "normal" mixture of eggs, larvae, and capped
brood. Pulled Drone Brood from that hive revealed no varroa (I
pulled about 15 drones from one place in the hive.)
My first diagnosis was that I was queenless in the hive even
though the hive was behaving normally. It wasn't overly
aggressive (even after I dropped one of the brood chambers),
bees were flying and taking advantage of the weather and they
had put up 4 full medium supers of honey.
The thread being discussed concerning little or no brood in
hives with advanced varroa infestation has me concerned that my
first diagnosis may be incorrect. Although I treated with
Apistran this spring according to directions, the spring
treatment was accomplished beginning Feb 18 and pulled on April
1. Last year varroa became an issue for me in August but I had
treated through the month of April and early May. Is it
possible that my early treament this year has given enough time
for the varroa to resuge now rather than August?
or...
How can one tell the difference between simple(?) queenlessness
and advanced varroa infestation? I intend to reinspect the
broodless hive this weekend and will do the apistran test for
varroa unless I see that all is normal.
Could those of you who experienced crashes last year remember
if you noticed any signs of broodlessness prior to the crash?
Thanks to all of you. I have learned more in the past year
"listening in" on the List than I had in the previous three
years. Keep up the discussions!
Mark Egloff
[log in to unmask]
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