Subject: Hive Losses Due to Mites?

From: wdecker@.crosslink.net (Walker Decker)
Date: Sun, 07 Apr 1996 05:35:34 GMT

I lost ALL my colonies this winter. "All" is only 3, however I've
been keeping bees for 30 years and this is the first loss I've
experienced. A neighbor, whose hive I maintain, lost that colony as
well. My location is on the Northern Neck of Virginia, next to the
Potomac River.

  I had hoped that by using only colony division and occasional
requeening (I even removed the "attendant" bees from the queen cage,
before introduction) that I could prevent varroa, tracheal mites, or
other pests from getting into my hives. But I guess my luck ran out.

  Something took out all the hives. I suspect mites, since there was
only a small cluster of dead bees left on the comb and not an
unusually large amount of bodies on the bottom board. That would
suggest a gradual dwindling before the population dropped below the
sustainable level.

  I did lose one hive in August, while I was away on vacation. I
suspected that the hive had swarmed and was left with a poor queen,
but now I'm not so sure. That might have been the first of this
series.

  I'm new to the Internet. We just got service to our area February,
15. I've been following the articles posted here and have noted a few
concerning hive losses. But the newsgroup isn't getting "swarmed" with
queries about dead colonies, so I guess this isn't a widespread
epedemic. Still, it concerns me that hives that have been in the same
location for many years with no treatment for mites should all die out
at once.

  Is it mites, or something else? Are regions of the country
relatively mite-free, then infested with such a large population of
pests that all bees, feral and hived, are loss? In which case,
wouldn't the "parasite" die out as well...at least for another long
period of time?

  I would appreciate any comments/advice about the above, or word from
other beekeepers in the Mid-Eastern states about heavy bee losses this
winter.

  Thanks,

  Walker Decker
  Kinsale, Virginia