"BOGANSKY,RONALD J." wrote:

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> Observation:  I lost colonies this winter.  Some were due to Apistan
> resistant varroa.  Some probably to tracheal mite (TM).  But I still have
> problem blaming it all on mites.  Colonies that were protected from wind
> survived much better than those in the open.  Somewhere in the back of my
> head the weather keeps jumping into my thoughts.  WHY?
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> A few years back I started switching from Italians to Carniolans.  One
> reason was because of the smaller winter cluster and a break in the brood
> cycle.  Could this cool weather trait work against them in a warm/cold
> winter?
>  Hi Ron and All,

 Weather is always a factor in wintering over.Here in western Washington State
US we had a mild dry winter compared to the year before. I had bees flying a lot
of the time. Not all hives would break cluster. That's where the genetics comes
in to play.
 I had about 70 hives in late Feb. expanding at an alarming rate. I started to
feed them and that just made things worse. So I called over to the Islands to
get some queens so I could start splits. That worked .
 To put everything in line. The fall of 99 had a warm spot in September for two
weeks and the bees made very good use of it for winter. I had clean bees and
good queens. I went into winter heavy and a good population of young bees. Then
you add the mild, sort of dry winter and I have had an outstanding spring. I
pulled honey on April 15 this year against July 13 th. last year.Thats a big
difference , but it had more than just the weather to bring in the good results.
Location is very important here in western Washington. Put bees on rocky ground
with good air flow. Moisture in the hive will  cause you more problems than you
can fix. You will have population depletion with weak stressed bees.They get
caught in the cold and they can't make it home.Dry healthy bees can fly over the
snow and you do not have a large lose.We did have snow last winter at my place
for 2 weeks. The bees at home did not do as well as the bees that I had down at
sea level by Puget Sound. 500 feet makes a difference around here.The weather
affects the bees and that's a given. The how is complex.The more hives you run ,
the greater the range of results in any given area.
 That's my nickel.
Best Regards
Roy Nettlebeck