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.