# How much disease is too much?



## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Depends on your bees. If they are non varroa resistant they will slowly get worse till they die.

A lot of folks who have presumed varroa resistant bees, do report seeing some DWV from time to time, and it clears up again.

So you need to know your bee stock, and if you wish, monitor to see if things continue to worsen. If they continue to worsen you will at some point have to decide if you will do something for the hive or let it be one of the 4 in 10 that die.


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## Solomon Parker (Dec 21, 2002)

Personally, I usually won't do anything unless the hive has American Foul Brood, then I'd burn it. If this hive is showing enough problems during mating season, I would requeen it if I have an eligible queen on hand. Otherwise, I'd leave it to figure out the problem on its own. That's what I'd do.

I've seen hive go both ways. Sometimes they decline and die eventually, sometimes they supersede once or twice and start doing better. The longer I do this, the trend is toward the latter rather than the former.

This is what I am in the habit of doing, but I'm more the Bond Method style treatment-free beekeeper. You might want to go a different direction. Ultimately though, you'll never know how much they can handle until you let them handle it.


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