Treatment-Free, Winter 2012-2013, How's it going?

[squarepeg]

to the op, and out of 19 hives that weren't treated for mites, one succumbed to mites, and one died to what i believe was a combination of queen failure and mites.

[Oldtimer]

Wow that's pretty interesting Zhiv, was that a natural drop? (no chemicals like sugar dust or whatever?) If a natural drop I've never seen a hive with so many mites, untreated, and still alive 6 months later. What is the breed?

[rwurster]

Lost 1 untreated hive to a starve out. The other 6 untreated hives are doing well so far through wild temp swings from -12 to 65. February is when we will get the lion's share of our moisture.

[bhfury]

All mine are chugging right along. We have had huge swings in our weather. Some of the hives are getting a little light so I will feed some sugar this week if it dries up enough to get in and out without getting stuck. All-in-All.... happy happy happy!!!

[cg3]

had 35 drop in one, 72 drop in another and 26 I believe in the last one.

Won't say what I did here but here is a pretty big mite drop. (1500+)
http://db.tt/CNMoG0Md

[AstroBee]

we are having a bad year in Virginia, losses running about 50% for some (my self included) 3 of my hives had CCD symptoms ( no bees at all in hive) 2 were weak hives despite my best efforts ( I know, I should have combines them) and one who knows Mites maybe?

That's not what I've seen at all. So far zero losses for me. Pretty mild winter, so that's to be expected. If you're losing 50% of your bees in southeast VA there's got to be other things at play.

[Solomon Parker]

Now that's a mite drop.

[cg3]

Go big or go home.

[abejorro]

Shenandoah Valley of VA... 7 hives going into winter, and seven hives active today (balmy in the 60's). I just hope they don't get started too early and then get hit by Feb/Mar cold snaps. Fingers crossed...

[Beregondo]

I'm in the Chemung valley of upstate New York.
I've had temps swing from -9F to mid fifties.

So far I've lost one nuc to starvation.

I had to go out of state from Oct 2 til Thanksgiving, and by the time I got back it was too cold to feed up to weight.

That nuc was a pretty late split, and was pretty well dwindled w/ no stores when I mtn camped it. I'd have been surprised if it had made it. It was in a single 5 frame.

The rest of the nucs are in single deeps, 2 nucs to each 10 frame box.
Two others aren't showing much activity, and may be lost as well. They are in the box at the windward end and have taken a beating.
This my first winter in this yard and the wind is apparently pretty brutal.

The rest seem to be doing quite well. I have one strain that has been out foraging when temp were in the 40's and bringing something back.
Can't imagine what pollen they found, but they were bringing in light grey pollen.
I think it is too early for willow .. it might be chicken feed or some other.

This winter is going surprisingly well, given the neglect in the fall.

[rkereid]

In SW VA, just west of the Blue Ridge. Went into fall with a little over 90, half nucs, half 10 frame. As of yesterday lost a little over 25% of the 10 frame, and 15% of nucs. Almost all are mite/virus related crashes in Nov and Dec. Plenty of feed on the hives, mostly honey, some syrup. A couple more hives are queenless so they will be gone too. Working on quality and not quantity at this point, nature is helping!

Richard

[iwombat]

With the exception of some mamal-induced losses (bear). I have 100% survival going into Feb.

I'll take that.

[Solomon Parker]

You don't treat for bears?

[zhiv9]

Wow that's pretty interesting Zhiv, was that a natural drop? (no chemicals like sugar dust or whatever?) If a natural drop I've never seen a hive with so many mites, untreated, and still alive 6 months later. What is the breed?

That was a natural drop. The bees are local Ontario stock. Italian in colour, but definitely a mixed breed.

[Oldtimer]

Did they have brood overwinter, and what is their status now, mite wise?

[zhiv9]

It's so cold here this time of year, that there is no opportunity to check mite or brood status. I see a few dead bees here and there in the snow and take that as a good sign. I counted mites a couple of times in the fall and the mite drop fell steadily. I assumed that this was due to population reduction in preparation for winter.

[camero7]

CCD is characterized by the disappearance of foragers, not all bees.

Absence of bees in the hive is indicative of absconding.

My understanding is that CCD usually has a few bees and the queen left behind and all others gone, including brood bees.

[Oldtimer]

OK Zhiv, well this would be quite a success story if the bees come through OK ánd I'd like to know. Please post here once you've opened it up & had a good look, cheers.

[Rader Sidetrack]

Here's what the USDA Agricultural Research Service says about CCD symptoms:

The main symptom of CCD is very low or no adult honey bees present in the hive but with a live queen and no dead honey bee bodies present. Often there is still honey in the hive, and immature bees (brood) are present. Varroa mites, a virus-transmitting parasite of honey bees, have frequently been found in hives hit by CCD.

The full page is here:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.ht...=15572#history

[NCbeek]

So far all four still kicking. Only fed one, but the others are getting lighter. Seem to be ok, but ready for spring so I can relax. Seems like I take winter losses harder than summer.