>Well Paul I would first say that there is in my mind serious doubt about what you call 'no doubt'.

Good point Gene and I withdraw the "no doubt". Because I have no other explanation does not prove a hypothesis.

I also see heavy mite loads concentrated by yard and by location in the yard. The ones experiencing influx, if that is what it is, are often stand mates. The question I can't answer is why in some colonies, in fact the great majority, the treatment is successful, going from say 7 to 0-1 and another it goes from 12 to 35 over a three week period. It is hard for me to believe that there could be that much variation to the mites susceptibility or that there could be that large a reservoir of mites in the hive, brood of phoretic. True during that early fall season there is a large difference in active brood rearing here. Some colonies are already reduced to a frame or even part of a frame of brood and others still have 3 frames and eggs. But the mite loads do not correspond to the brood level in my observation.

Still plenty of questions but what I do know is that a late summer, early fall course of treatment will leave you with a percentage of colonies with dangerous and growing mite loads. I bet it is a democrat/republican (pick one) conspiracy.

Paul Hosticka
Dayton WA

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