I'm still under the assumption that the 25% losses quoted by Jerry Hayes and the Apiary Inspectors 
of America includes winter losses as their statements say between fall of 06 and spring 07. 

divide that number in half ( say 12%) to account for winter losses and we have 300,000 hives lost 
from CCD. 

as has been mentioned here on Bee -L lately losses to tracheal in the 80's was 1 million, the 
04/05 varrora collapes must have been higher too with the tight package and queen market that 
resulted. 

does CCD even rank in the top 5 major bee losses in the USA? 

it sure ranks as the most visisble loss thats for sure.

I'll remember 2006 as the year of the drought and early 2007 as the big winter kill when the north 
eastern states dropped from 60F+ to minus 20F in a couple of weeks.  These two acts of Mother 
Nature probably accounted for more losses then CCD. 

Whatever, the attention by Congress, public and Big Ag is well deserved given the downward 
trends of the bee industry and we can hope to see some policy changes ahead that reflect a 
concern for pollinators. 

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