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[sanrico AT highdesert.com]

Wasn't there a thread begun recently about bee death? I thought this might be 
of
interest. I confess to chopping, clipping and amputating parts of it to get 
rid
of references to other lists (don't know if it's proper or allowed to include 
all
their details). I'd be glad to re-send it in its entirety if it's allowed, 
and if
anyone's interested.

Sandy

------- Start of forwarded message -------

There has been a considerable discussion and exchange of information and
opinion on the beekeepers listserv, Bee-L, about the die back of honey
bee colonies. I've pasted in below the text of a posting from Jerry
Bromenshenk, of the University of Montana-Missoula, who is one of the
leading researchers looking into the situation. 

It's also worth pointing out that this is a disorder that only seems to
affect honey bees. I don't know if it affects feral honey bees (has
anyone looked?). It doesn't seem to impact native bees. They have plenty
of problems of their own, but this is one that appears, so far, to have
missed them.

Major losses have been seen in the U.S., starting in the
spring in places like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Its still ongoing
in Florida, with major losses occurring in Oklahoma, and a number of
reports from California over the last few days.

We are no longer calling this Fall Dwindle Disease -- its not a fall
phenomenon when looked at across the nation, its a rapid collapse (often
in less than 2-3 weeks), and it may or may not be a disease in the
strictest sense. So, we're terming it Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

*CCD Symptoms*
Based on initial visits to affected beeyards, the CCD drew up a list of
the following symptoms, typical of the disorder:
1) In collapsed colonies,
    a. The complete absence of adult bees in colonies, with no or little
build up of dead bees in the colonies or in front of those colonies.
    b. The presence of capped brood in colonies,
    c. The presence of food stores, both honey and bee bread
       i. which is not robbed by other bees, and
       ii. when attacked by hive pests such as wax moth and small hive
beetle, the attack is noticeably delayed (days, weeks)
2) In cases where the colony appear to be actively  collapsing
    a. An insufficient workforce to maintain the brood that is present
    b. The workforce seems to be made up of young adult bees
    c. The queen is present
    d. The cluster is reluctant to consume provided feed, such as sugar
syrup and protein supplement

Initial results from the online survey (http://www.beesurvey.com
<http://www.beesurvey.com/>) has revealed that beekeepers think that
this started at least 1-2 years ago, in its present form. As this list
has mentioned, similar syndromes have been reported in the U.S., dating
back to 1896. It certainly looks identical to the disorder reported by
Oertel in 1965 (from bee losses in 63-64).

Finally, if you've experienced this, please fill out the survey -
regardless of how convinced you are that you know what caused it in your
bees. Too many factors, too few returns to sort this out without the
help of the nation's beekeepers.

------- End of forwarded message -------

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------- End of forwarded message -------

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