Amendment to my post. "insecticides".
Here is my reasoning.
Year before last I lost 7 out of 12 colonies.
5 of these were from commercial queens + the fact I treated those that were lost. These 5
showed the CCD symptoms, no dead bees at the hive or inside. Honey left inside. no robbing from other colonies, no wax moths.
The other two showed normal loss symptoms, these were from my feral stock but were also treated.
The 5 surviving colonies were all the way feral and had feral queens and was not treated.
NOW, I live in an area where there is very little spraying. Three gardens with in about one mile and
these people use hardly any insecticides. U.S forest service and timber companies spray very little.
The power Co. uses "pesticides". ( plant growth control).
So the 5 colonies out of 7 that showed symptoms of CCD, whats up with that.
Did I answer my own ???'s .?
Then it beats me as to why I was thinking of getting new stock.
Because I have mean bees, but they make lots of honey.
Mainly concerned with my wife getting stung. Because some time she is stubborn and will not stay inside when I am working the bees. She cannot get stung.
Also one of the reasons I was thinking of giving up bee keeping all together.
But I have decided to try to maintain 4 to 6 colonies and get my heavy work done before the heat gets to bad in the summer months.
And keep my wife locked up when working the colonies. :roll: ;) :)doak
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERY ONE.