Beekeepers Guild Meeting

I finally attended a meeting with the Santa Clara Valley Beekeepers Guild meeting, I've been meaning to go for a while. There were some really good presentations on how to make mead, lotion, soap, and candles. I really liked it and everyone was really friendly so I joined the guild.

I also asked some folks there what they thought about what happened to my bees. Here were their thoughts:

1. Too much Apiguard -  if the bees are dosed with too much Apiguard, it can kill them just as easily as a pesticide. When the temperatures are too hot (100 degrees Fahrenheit +) you should reduce the amount of Apiguard that you are using. I also found out that a lot of people halve the amount of Apiguard they apply to the hive anyway. I think that it is unlikely that I applied too much Apiguard because the temperatures were in the 70s, I was following the label instructions, and when I opened the hive I couldn't smell/see any Apiguard when I opened the hive.
2. Varroa Mites - the population of Varroa Mites peaks after the population of the bees peaks, so as the bees are preparing for winter, there are way more mites. I may have treated the bees too late in the season and the mites would have had time to overtake the bees. I also doubt that this is what happened. Some of the folks at the meeting said that the wings are a dead giveaway, if the wings are very tiny and curled up, it's a sign that there are a lot of mites. Looking at the pictures of my bees, they look absolutely fine other than their behavior. I'll look more carefully next time I am at the hive.
3. Poison - There were recently a few cases of vandalism in Saratoga where people sprayed poison onto bee hives. Since my bees are behind a gate, I doubt my bees were victims of vandalism. I sent an email to our gardener to double check that he didn't spray anything in the yard (I really doubt he did anything, since he gardens for a few other folks with bees). There is also a lot of new landscaping around Los Altos because of all of the renovations in downtown, so it is possible that the city is just spraying their plants (and that is what my bees were into).

Of all of the theories, I still think that it was most likely pesticide. There is another meeting in December, some of the members suggested that I bring in one of my worst frames so that they can take a look.