Thank you all for the replies, the encouragement, and all of the insight shared! I sure am glad I found this forum . . . you all have been a great help!
With the reading that I’ve done about beekeeping and hearing about so many people losing hives, I just want to do as much as I can to help keep them alive and strong . . . and then try to learn as much as I can so that I can recognize what’s normal and what isn’t. Through this post and everything that you all have shared, I have certainly learned a lot!
It sounds like what is going on is nothing serious so I think I’ll just keep monitoring the hive and the mite drop count (which was only eight at my last check.) Keeping an eye on things and then just see what happens. I opened up the hive briefly yesterday (it was still too chilly to do any more than that) and all looked well in there. I didn’t see anything that sparked concern so was glad for that!
I’m also so pleased to hear that the bees appear to be hygienic! I hadn’t really put two and two together with equating the bees removing the deformed ones from the hive with hygienic behavior. That should really help the colony health if they are that way. So, thanks everyone for pointing that out.
Sc-bee . . . as far as my beekeeping philosophy, at this point, I would prefer to not treat unless it was necessary. If something significant came up that could/would eventually lead to the death of the colony, but could be resolved with treatment, I don’t have any qualms about treating then. So that’s where I am right now, but it could change as time goes on!
Wildbeekeeper . . . thank you for sharing all of that! I am not sure which apiary my bees came from as I ordered through a local beekeeper and supplier (Walk About Acres.) They shipped in 300+ packages of bees from California for local beekeepers.
Thanks everyone again for all of the help!
