Bees in California

[thekeeper]

Hi every one.I sent 400 colonies of bees to CA.The beekeeper that I had sent my bees with also took some other peoples bees with him.He had called me on the first Of Feb. He had told me that now I have only 170 colonies that are still alive.He says that the mites have killed off the rest.I stil have not seen payment for the bees in the orchard.Also the mite problem occured when they were in california.The beekeeper had brought out to california another beekeepers bees.The other bees were 100 colonies and were never treated for mites.Our bees had robbed out the mite infested colonies and he had never called to notify us that are bees were dying from the mites until he put them in the orchard.So my question is- is the beekeeper at fault for the loss of over half of my bees.Also what should I do he has never paid me for pollination and says that it is not his fault that i had lost over 200 colonies of bees.Even thou he put 100 colonies of mite infested bees with mine

So what does a person do when this happens.Anyone have anysuggestions. Thinking about suing him for neglagence. Any suggetion would be appreciated.

[dcross]

What did you have in writing?

Were the hives inspected by a third party before you sent them?

[loggermike]

Hives from all over the country get placed in close to each other during almond bloom.It cant be helped.In the past when most people had a good handle on varroa,it wasnt that big a deal.Now with treatment failures everywhere its just rotton luck that your bees picked them up,assuming your bees didnt bring the problem with them,which only your late season sticky board tests would show(a point you would have to prove in a lawsuit).At this point I would be thinking of splitting the survivors right after almonds to get your deadouts re-stocked.

[Michael Bush]

BTW this is the "Top Bar Hive" forum. I think I'd put this in the "Bee Forum".

[loggermike]

Now Michael,we have to assume his frames do have top bars, so technically......

[Michael Bush]

I'm sure they do. smile.gif

[thekeeper]

Ya the mite problem is unwinnable best you can do is keep treating and watchin mite drop.Started in nov in CA 400 colonies now have 170 week and strong.about 60% so far probly loose 70% buy the time they get home.

[loggermike]

Well I feel for you.Had a similar loss a few years ago and it really hurts.Guess you shouldnt feel like the lone ranger,this is happening all over.Everyone coming out of almonds better be on guard this year in case they picked up some big mite loads.

[odfrank]

I am down 33% in California, have never moved my bees, and have no or few other beekeepers in my range. Its a bad year for mites, or maybe I should say a good year for mites and a bad winter for bees. More than half of the remaining hives are probably to weak to make a crop, if they survive. And that was with strips. Most of the hives with new queens look good.