I think the mites are most of it. You have to learn to manage and treat to kill the mites. Then the bees stay alive and healthy. Mites reproduce even faster than bees so by Aug, Sept the hive is loaded with mites and working as hard as it can to prepare for winter. Its like one more mite hatching cycle and BAM, the hive is overwhelmed and crashes fast. Then all those mites seek out the closest hives to feed off of. Call it a “mite bomb”.
Just like having dogs and not taking care of your fleas and ticks. Its a responsibility not everyone will be as diligent at. And parasites literally suck the life right out of the hive.
Going into my 3rd year. Man, its cold!
I live in south florida. We don’t have cold here. Do the mites do better in warmer climates? What are they using to treat the mites? We just quarantined ours. We moved them away from the other hives and didn’t let them get near other sites. We only a hobby size operation. Any websites you could recommend on the mites?