> > >In my part of the US, swarms in fall almost always are because of varroa > mites. I've actually seen bees walk out of varroa infested hives. I observed the same during the initial invasion of tracheal mites, and also during the varroa mite invasion. This appears to me to be a possible defensive behavior of bees against parasites (along with supersedure of the queen). -- Randy Oliver Grass Valley, CA www.ScientificBeekeeping.com *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html