Re: Hive loss
dan, have you noticed that losses like these are a recurring theme.
i wonder if the parasitism from the mites is enough to weaken the bees and cause them to die while in cluster formation? are they just not strong enough to keep warm? maybe it just looks like starvation because they are stuck in the cells, but that's how they cluster and they could have just got cold.
have any specific viruses been linked to collapses such as these?
could it be that they have been weakened by n. ceranae?
could it be a combination of all of the above?
are losses like these still seen in hives where the mites have been knocked back in the fall?
journaling the growth of a treatment free apiary started in 2010. 20+/- hives