Hive losses

[NormCounterman]

Heads up, Hawnyawks!
There was discussion a while back, here on the computer about when to treat for mites.
One beginner argued that it was never too late to treat, siteing beekeepers harvesting late season flows such as fireweed as proof. Heck, if brood timing had any validity, wouldn't these folk be loosing bees left and right?
!!!!REALITY ALERT!!!!
They are.
This year will probably set a worlds record for colony losses due to mites.
Did the beekeepers do what they were supposed to do?
No. "Well we cant miss out on the fireweed, we have a business to run!"
Secret message to Yayhoos, "The bees come first!"
!!!BEES COME FIRST!!!
Every few years we go through the same panic.
Everything is blamed but the beekeeper.
The worse pest to honeybee hives are beekeepers that make poor decisions. And yes, that includes thos big names that we all really like.
Advice: Do what you are supposed to do.
Normy

[Steve Lindros]

Yes normmy you are right about the beekeeper, ( BUT )
if the beekeeper does everything like he is supposed too do and medicate early in the year that still doesn't mean that his hives are going to make it through the year.
As much money as the medications cost and now the strips and other medications the bees are getting imune too that just doesn't seem to help the beekeeper.
So why does it come down too that the beekeeper is most of the fault.
I will admit that it is heart sickening to go out in the bee yard one week and have a hive full of bees and then go out and check them a week later and not have a bee left in the hive because it all boils down to the medications that just aren't doing their job, but then the beekeeper gets the blame again.
To me it seems like a no win situation.
AND WE ALL CALL OUR SELFS GOOD BEEKEEPERS.

[Thom]

Beekeeping is one thing and mite keeping is yet another thing. Steve is correct in his statement that most medications are no longer working, but that is because beekeepers didn't read the instructions and misused the medicines that we were given to combat mites. Norm is correct in saying that late administration of these medications was one of the major down falls.
I think some of the confusion happened when George Imery stated that you can kill more mites if you medicate later in the year because there is less brood. This is a direct contradiction to the way the medication works. I hear more and more that people didn't start medicating until October this year. The problem is that the bees actually have to come in contact with mite strips in order for them to work. Bees that are clustered from the cold are not in contact with the strip, and if you move the strips to contact them in their cluster, you are over medicating them.

If you plan to medicate your bees you really need to start the process in August. When I used that stuff I found I could get away with starting the cycle on September 1 here on the coast and I never lost a hive due to mites. A friend who started his meds on October 1 that same year lost 50%.

From what I learned at the conference there will be a lot of beekeepers licking their wounds next spring because they thought they had everything under control. Though things have relaxed, meaning if you test for mite loads you may be able to skip some treatments, you still have to be very proactive toward the health of your hives. When you have to react to a problem, it's too late. Don't feel like you are all alone. From what I hear about beekeeping in California, there is little that is positive to report. My advice now is to hold on and stick to a schedule next year with what you have left.

[HarryVanderpool]

Hi Steve,
This is in response also to the disappearing thread.
In a normal, healthy hive, bees are constantlly disappearing. Where did they go?
They were lost in the field for a mirad of reasons but eventually their wings fail if not for other cause.
No big deal; there are new bees on their way, right?
Normally, yes.
But if the colony is suffering from any of a zillion brood ailments including pest, disease, nutrition, etc.. problems, then the replacement bees can be scarce.
The right combination, (wrong combination!) of things can allow a rapid depopulation of field bees, and the yellow jackets will do the rest.
Carry as many hives into your shop as possible that have failed and do a very careful auptopsy on each.
There is a cause and it can usually be discerned.
Harry

[NormCounterman]

George Dimery completely forgot about winter bees.
Two extremely important aspects of fall mite treatment:
1) To insure strong winter bees. These are eggs layed in late August.
2) To eliminate mites sucking the blood from the winter cluster.
Late treatment may remove mites, but your winter bees arent worth a round of tiddly winks.
Troubleswitch said it: You have to bee a good mitekeeper as well to survive.
Normy

[Thom]

NormCounterman said:

Troubleswitch said it: You have to bee a good mitekeeper as well to survive.
Normy

Hey Norm, let's not forget there are other ways of losing a hive in winter. Need I remind you of the hive floatilla in Tillamook Bay of 2002?

[steve]

Hi Harry
What happens when your hive completely vanishes, there are not any bees left to examine to find out what happens to them.
All the hive has left in it is 80 pounds of stored honey and a few frames of brood that looks healthy.
Not even a bee butt stuck anywhere.