After two depressing springs in a row, I had a wonderful surprise two
months ago when inspecting my hives here in northern Illinois.  All 7
made it through the winter (albeit a mild one) with large clusters and
plenty of brood.  Last weekend I finished splitting the hives and now
have 10 strong hives with around 12 frames of brood.  The question I
want to address members of this list is, are we winning the battle
against tracheal mites?  I have treated all of my hives the same for the
last three years (apistan for the recommended period of time, terramycin
for EFB, fumidil-B) and I have left them plenty of late season honey, no
t syrup, for winter stores.  The last two springs were filled with
dead hives, little brood, and very small clusters.  Since my management
scheme hasn't changed that much I was wondering if we had finally turned
the corner on some of the problems with tracheal mites.  This was
reinforced by an article that appeared in the Illinois State Beekeepers
Assoc. Newsletter.  In the article, they quote Dr. Roger Hoopingarner
who states that in Michigan, colony infestation has dropped from 20 to
80% in 1991 and 1992 to 1 to 2% in 1993.  Has anyone else found themselv
es in a better situation?  Does this follow a similar pattern in Europe?