Hello Dave & All,

Despite what has been said by Bailey TM has always shown symptoms in my
bees. Hoppers are common and found as far a fifty feet from the hives.
Usually they show wing damage but sometimes only hoppers or crawlers. Some
even stagger or tremble.


the questions are:
Why did the 13 that did NOT have TM become hoppers?

Not sure but a new virus has been found according to what I have been told.
Yet unnamed. Symptoms unknown. Comes from a reliable source but still has
not been announced so consider a rumor until offically announced.

>why did formic make such a dramatic improvement?

You would feel better if the mites in your trachea died!
I have never done this test with formic but will explain the way we decided
to buy menthol to treat bees for TM>

Menthol kills TM fast! To test menthol the second largest beekeeper took
several bees with tracheal mites and placed a few menthol crystals menthol
in with the bees. Then about fifteen minutes later he discected the bees and
the TM were all dead. He bought enough menthol to treat all his hives.

>Why did formic make such a dramatic improvement?

I suspect formic killed the TM. Hopping seems to be a method bees try to
eject the mites from their trachea.I imagine they can spit the dead TM out
but have never observed a hopper surviving late stage TM. Usually a hopper
has some type of virus wing damage. In your case it would seem (only a
guess) your hives became infested through forager robbing. Too bad you did
not test a few young bees from the brood nest.

Is my intuition about skunks bogus?

Skunks can weaken a hive but only once in awhile have I had serious skunk
problems. Telltale signs are scratch marks on the front of the hive. They
claw at an angle and eat the bees when they run out. They like to come
around at dusk and I use the skunks for target practice. Usually there are
more than one. Peta people stop reading now!
Once I killed five in a yard. I like to use a shoulder holster and quick
draw on the skunks! I leave the dead skunks lie and other skunks get the
message. After a couple days I dig a hole next to the dead skunk and push
the skunk in the hole with a stick. I have seen possum eat  dead skunk and
even a raccon but only if fresh killed.

>damn I dislike formic

I wear a respirator under a bugg baffler when placing formic but the pads
have little smell when removed. One treatment then done. 21 days and done!
two treatments with with apilife var and apigaurd. I do not like the mess
left on frames with api life var but it stays too hot in my area to use FA
in August but not thymol..

Once you cut spacers (old bee boxes but wear eye protection and use old saw
blades as flying pieces of nails happens and the nails ruin blades) then
using mite away 2 is easy. With the spacers I also can place my pollen
patties on top rather than between the two deep boxes which is a hassle or
at least easier than between the boxes. Also easier to check when the pollen
patty is about gone.  I use old frame end bars for spacing the pads off the
frames. David V. says getting the pad up off the frame is important. When we
last spoke (ABF Austin ) he said 3/8 was probbably high enough off the
frames but his video said half an inch I believe.

Good luck with your bees this year Dave!

I have decided to tell beekeepers my ways of keeping bees as many are having
problems. if others on the list are having success with bees please share.
The days for sharing are here and the days of not sharing secrets are over.
These are tough times for beekeeping.

Despite what many say commercial beekeepers are on the endangered species
list in the U.S. 300 million people and the current estimate is 1700
commercial beekeepers! I would guess less than a hundred of the 1700 run
over a 1000 hives but only a guess.

We used to say their are two kinds of beekeepers in the U.S.
" those with varroa mites and those going to get varroa mites"

I hope the saying will not apply to our current unknown CCD problem:

Lets all hope the below statement never becomes true!

" those with CCD problems and those going to get CCD problems"

True it seems the bees are out running CCD right now with queens laying
several thousand eggs a day in many areas but what happens this fall?

Hopefully we have seen the last of the die off!

Bob


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