THE EPIDEMIC OF HONEY-BEE COLONY LOSSES DURING THE 1995-1996 SEASON

Thousands of honey bee colonies died in a region-wide epidemic in the northeastern United States during the winter and spring of 1995-96. In an effort to assess the tremendous colony losses, Pennsylvania beekee pers were asked to provide information on their colony losses and trea tments they applied, In all, 252 Pennsylvania beekeepers provided info rmation on 6,054 colonies, or about 22% of the colonies in our state, The average colony mortality was 53%, Colony losses were even higher ( 71.6%) among beekeepers who did not treat colonies for mites or diseas e. This is similar to the 85% mortality that we saw in feral colonies in central Pennsylvania, Apistan, Terramycin extender patties, and Fum idil-B all significantly decreased colony mortality, Tracheal mite tre atments, including menthol and grease (vegetable shortening) patties, did not reduce colony losses. Many beekeepers applied tracheal mite tr eatments at the wrong time of year, which most likely lead to ineffect ive tracheal mite control. overall, we conclude that aggressive treatm ent for honey bee mites and other diseases significantly increases col ony survival.