As the hives already start building up for spring during this spate of perfect weather--- rain, then sun, then more rain, then more sun--- and blooming hillsides, that doggone Carniolan hive is still clobbered with mites. They're starting to haul larval corpses out; I saw one this morning. Never a good sign. And sure enough, when I pulled the sticky board for a check, there were more mites than I felt like counting.
I'll treat this weekend with powdered sugar. Now that I've got the bellows figured out, it's a real easy way to treat. I just don't know how effective it really is.
It's too bad, cuz the hive is really trying to build up. Tons of pollen coming in, as was evidenced by the amount that had fallen through the screened bottom board to the sticky board below. But judging from the fallen debris, they've only got about 3 working frames of bees, so they may be on their way out...
I'm going to open a few hives this weekend and track the progress of the supers I put on all the stronger hives. We had ideal foraging weather for about two weeks, and it's raining outside tonight, with a clear forecast for tomorrow--- so it continues to be a great run-up to spring.
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