Hello All,
"Fool me once, shame on you.
 Fool me twice shame on me."

It has been many years since I first heard that saying.  I feel is rings oh
so true this season.  Last year (99/00), I lost a fair number of colonies
over the winter.  Many were gone by December.  I was pretty sure that it was
caused by varroa resistance to the Apistan that I had used.  I started to
realize my losses were high in February.  I posted this information to the
list.  At that time I also started to rethink about mite control.  A number
of commercial beekeepers in the area had already used CheckMite the previous
season with what they reported as good results and much better winter
survival then I had.  Normally I am very successful with wintering (10%
loss), usually selling nucs (splits) in the spring just to avoid swarming.
Being upset at the time I ordered a supply of CheckMite.  I even used it on
two colonies in the spring that were showing high varroa amounts.

During the season I made splits, purchased packages and built back up to 31
colonies.  I also added screened bottom boards to some of the colonies.
Along about August I started getting ready for treatment. I had calmed down
since spring and decided against the Checkmite on all colonies.  I was able
to get enough formic acid for 25 colonies.  I used it and only treated the
remaining 6 colonies with the Checkmite.  Also, because I was using formic I
did not use any menthol at all,  something I have done for the past 9 years.

Fast forward 8 months.  I had another winter of high losses, losing 17 of
the 31.  However, all 6 colonies treated with CheckMite had survived and
five of them were very strong, the sixth being somewhat weaker but still
able to be split in April.  The remaining colonies had survived but were not
nearly as strong and needed work to build up.  I realize this is only
anecdotal evidence and I am not advocating the use of CheckMite.  I really
don't want to be on that "chemical merry-go-round", but I lost many bees
while I had a few hundred dollars worth of treatment sitting on the shelf.
Who's the fool?

I am tired of going through dead outs.  Watching bees die takes most of the
fun out of keeping them.  This season has all the indications of being a
banner honey flow year, and I don't have the bees to capitalize on it.  I
will probably have to buy honey from another beekeeper to meet my needs.
Funny thing is that beekeeper is the same person that sold me his supply of
formic when he decided to use CheckMite last year.  His losses this year
were below 20%.

And just to add insult on injury, a bear hit one of my yards two weeks ago
pretty much destroying everything. I guess it will be just another
challenging year in keeping bees.  Good luck to everyone.

Ron Bogansky
Kutztown, (eastern) PA, USA



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