Greetings from eastern Ontario, Canada
Not to bad of an article (GlobeandMail) but some conflicting numbers on
pollination values and losses but that's typical of reporting. I am
somewhat doubtful of Doug McRory's assessment and his Report of the
situation in Ontario. I think Mr McRory had better not downplay or
overlook Varroa (or HTM) and the associated proliferation of otherwise
tolerable bee pathogens/viruses, PMS-(parasitic mite syndrome ), as being
a potential if not the likely major underlying factor in Ontario's losses.
From what I have read I conject that these factors appear to be the main
causes of many of the US losses as well. Some individual US cases or
groups/regions are apparently very peculiar and may be chemical or
pesticide related, or a new "CCD"--yet to be determined, or perhaps
related to the impact of enviromental forage shortages in some cases,
possibly accelerating a collapse as explained below.
But what's all that compared to a few weeks of solid cold, but not
extreme, winter weather, eh? Prov. Apiarist Doug McRory's report indicates
to me Fall symptoms common to the Varroa/PMS collapse that I have gone
through to varying degrees beginning in fall/winter 2000/01at 25% with the
most severe loss of 70%...750 dead of 1100, occurring in 2002/03. With the
late Fall the colonies in southern Ont., if healthy, should have brooded
later but instead dwindled. These bees should have recovered on fall
feeding. Think about what you wrote Doug. Seriously! I surely expect that
more information gathering is in progress in Ontario so we will see what
comes out over time. I am very curious as to what stock and mite
management systems are/were being used where major losses occurred. How
many of them did pollination down east? Were the losses in single or
double brood chambers? Lots of questions need answers yet although I'm
sure Doug is aware of much that just didn't make it to his short summary.
I know I would find that kind of information to be very important.
However, a poor honey/pollen flow can be a major factor in colony strength
as suggested, especially in the Fall, but basic management should be able
to compensate somewhat for those factors, feed and patties. In relation to
this and the southern Ont losses, I might add/suggest that even at
moderate varroa levels a major cutback in the brood nest, be it natural
Fall reduction or a dirth of incoming resources, is the potential prelude
to a collapse due to the increase in mites to brood ratio. Even so the
tipping point for a serious impact seems to be directly related to the
presence and proliferation of secondary afflictions, (like DWV for 1),
which seem to play a major role when a varroa related collapse occurs.
To me the winter was relatively easy in the south half of Ontario and
normal colonies should be fine. I have lots of good colonies but also 2
yards almost wiped out and a few locations weak at 50%. Surely some in
southern Ontario had good winterings. Same weather as their neighbours! I
also saw some of what Doug described with colonies starving beside frames
of honey. But why had their clusters dwindled to a point that made them
susceptible to this effect. I went from 132 dead at Feb 22 to 207 now, 25%
total out from 850. Some of these later ones starved or were to small to
survive the cold of late Feb early March. Essentially they were lacking a
critical mass of bees. If you want to skip the other factors that led to
these reduced clusters, then yeh, the weather killed them.
I have had more experience than I care for in these matters but my data is
not scientific. However, I have seen and learned alot being on the
frontline with the US border here in eastern Ontario. For me the losses
kind of spread like a wave from south to north over the years and I
wouldn't be surprised if next year southern Ont. losses hit north of
highway 401 in the coming Fall/Winter. CCD symptom descriptions don't seem
to be much different than my own experiences. I can't tell about the not-
robbing factor though. Mine have all been fall/winter collapses and seem
to be directly related to some varroa build ups with PMS as treatment
resistent-mites (1st Apistan almost immediately followed by Coumaphos)
infiltrated from New York state.There doesn't appear to be anything
different about my losses this year.
I have often thought that my major losses were far to uniform (whole yards
wiped out) to be solely the result of Varroa populations. I wonder if some
Varroa populations may actually have become carriers of some virus(es),
akin to mosquitos and the West Nile virus, or are the mites simply a
catalyst/vector for what is already present? These and other questions are
serious to all and especially anyone with major losses in both the US and
Canada but it is certainly not "an absolute catastrophe in the US" as
Peter Kevan of Guelph U. is quoted in the Globe article. What is it with
some people(canadians)that try and make the Americans look bad with
misinformation. Maybe the reporter took the quote out of context but I
doubt it. We are fortunate in Canada for the opportunity to learn from the
US's experiences all through this blight brought on by the mites. The
infiltration of the US bee industry by these foreign 'invasive' species
(Varroa, HTM) progressed quicker in the US for a number of reasons and
that has given us in Canada a chance to learn a lot.
Simplistic bottomline, miteloads need to be minimal to avoid flareups of
secondary pathogens. Unknown conditions may lead to flareups even at
normally acceptable mite levels. We must continue to find and validate
solutions for success through hive management technics, additional safe
mite controls, and ongoing selective breeding programs so that all
branches of the industry might find solutions for mite control that are
compatible with or adaptable to the variety of climates and individual
operational specialties, ie. honey-prod., pollination, Queen & bee
suppliers, etc....that vary across N. America.
Another variable is Nosema Cerana which I read was detected in some US
samples. I'm not sure if it is conclusive but apparently this strain of
nosema is much more virulent and serious in it's effect. If I remember
correctly fumagillin will control it. Also, HTM is always lingering as I
saw when all my 100 Italians from KONA in 2003 died during the winter of
2004/05 with the characteristic dumping of irritated bees midwinter which
would perhaps just disappear in more moderate climates. No such trend in
the 200 KONA Carniolans of the same year. Formic was not in my treatment
regime at the time.
Today I am totally relying on the 2 acids (Oxalic,Formic) since I now have
varroa resistent to both Apistan and Coumaphos and chemical wise I prefer
the acids if I can get sufficient control to stay in business. It would be
prudent to have another reliable alternative treatment in Canada
(Hivastan?). I've stabalized at 20 to 30% loss the last 3 springs with
lots of good bees but always have a few locations essentially wiped out.
I'm not sure yet if the acids alone will provide sufficiently consistent
control. I might have to try adding screened bottomboards. This resistence
very clearly came across the St. Lawrence river from New York which I am
told is where Mr Hackenburg-migratory beekeeper, keeps some hives in the
summer. No blame intended here as business must go on but the industry and
individuals should be very conscious of the impact that migratory outfits
might have on locals and vice versa. I was somewhat shocked though when I
read on Bee-Line that it is common practice for the migratory outfits to
purposefully leave there old field bees behind when heading south for the
winter. To me that practice may have had little impact on others in pre-
mite days but with today's state of beekeeping in N. America my logic
finds this to be a seriously questionable practice (also a public safety
issue) unless done in a very isolated area. For those who use that
practice, and should it be shown/known to have a real negative impact on
locals, then I would place some level of responsibility on migrators to
try to limit this impact and I have to asks what is the benefit and
importance/necessity of this step? This did provide a possible reason in
part ( just speculating) for why my south end bees along the St. Lawrence
river have suffered greater losses than other areas of my outfit and
perhaps why many ailments present in the eastern states seem to show up in
my bees within a year or two.
Still no beetles or African bees willing to risk getting caught up here
for the winter. :)
Anyway, just a few thoughts for you all to consider.
Take care, Rob T.
(45'N 75'W)
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