Bob, I heard the first reports this summer from the midwest.  With the  
drought this year, combined with early season reports of problems such as  slow 
growing colonies, early losses, or lack of honey production (more than  
simply drought),  I predicted in August that this was likely  to another bad 
year.  I talked to Randy couple weeks ago, he's been  hearing the same about 
problems.  Last  week I talked to a broker of  a large number colonies for 
almond pollination.  When I said I feared  this might be a bad year, he said 
he had already had reports of colonies  crashing as they came off the trucks 
in CA.
 
I suspect that poor nutrition either exacerbates problems, or is a trigger  
for much of what is happening.  I still think we're looking mainly at a  
pathogen complex that tends to be somewhat cyclic, worse in years with  
widespread weather/nutritional stress. 
 
I'd be interested in hearing where currently affected yards are located -  
my guess, lots of them are in damp locations.  When looking at problems  
pre-almond pollination over the last several years, I got so that I knew  where 
to expect the worst problems in CA - the low lands near creeks, rivers, or  
reservoirs - anywhere I frequently encountered morning ground fog.
 
To be fair, these opinions are my own and are shared by my research team  
who has been out in the field looking at bee problems since 2006.  Our  
opinions are just that - our best guess as to what is happening.  
 
Jerry
 

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