A bad day at the association apiary

[gavin]

Thanks Mazza! Nice to see you here. The feedback via Graham in Perth from those wonderful people in the lab did mention starvation related to mite pressure as a reason for the symptoms. That now makes perfect sense. I was a little puzzled as the top brood box is quite heavy (I lifted it off tonight to apply Varroa medication) ... but a lack of healthy nurse bees to make the bee bread could explain things.

I plumped for Apistan which is something I haven't used for years. It should knock down enough Varroa to see it though this crisis, even if it isn't fully effective locally any more.

The colony alongside is mild-mannered and doesn't have a Varroa problem, so I'll be grafting some queens from that one.

Gavin