In the first visits samples were taken from all three hives, in the second samples were taken from Hive1 and a sample of dead bees from the deceased Hive3. In the third visit a sample was taken from Hive1 which the inspector felt showed some signs of varoosis. The first samples also had varroa counts lab checked too.
Varroa Counts on 5th September 2012
| Hive | Varroa count per 100 bees |
| Hive1 | 0.8 |
| Hive3 | 0.58 |
| Hive3 | 1.45 |
The molecular screening checked for Deformed Wing Virus, Nosema Apis, Nosema Carnae, Acute Bee Paralysis Virus, Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus, Kashmir Bee Virus and Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus. The names of some of these viruses hints at how far across the globe they've spread, that's mainly thanks to people of course.
Molecular Pathogen Screening Results
| Hive | 5/9/2012 | 14/4/2012 | 16/8/2012 |
| Hive1 | None | NC | NC |
| Hive2 | ABPV | No Test | No Test |
| Hive3 | None | NA & NC | - |
(ABPV= Acute Bee Paralysis Virus, NC= Nosema Carnae, NA = Nosema Apis)
Hive3 had died out overwintering between the first and second visits, and Hive2 wasn't sampled in the second and third visits because there were no visible signs of disease. Hive 1 was only tested as it had shown visual signs of varoosis. When I gave the bees their Oxalyc Acid treatment in late November Hive2 was the most populous.
Last weekend I had a listen to the hives with a stethoscope just to see if the bees were surviving. Hives 1 and 2 seemed to be doing well but Hive3 which contained the captured swarm was a lot quieter. Using a stick I had a poke around in the entrances to make sure they weren't blocked with dead bees.
