Peter Borst quotes Joe Traynor, paraphrasing Peter Borst, thereby presenting
his own paraphrasing of the apocryphal tales of beekeepers of yore: 

> the 30+% winter losses currently 
> incurred by U.S. beekeepers are 
> no different than the losses reported 
> during the 100 years prior to the 
> introduction of Varroa mites to the 
> U.S. and to the later finding of nosema
> ceranae here.

The difference,  of course, being that in the 100 years prior to the 1980s,
these losses were exceptional worst case events in an era of beekeeping
husbandry that bordered on neglect as compared to today.  It was their
exceptional nature that made them worthy of note at the time.

These days, such losses are to be expected each and every year, as a best
case, in spite of best efforts. These losses are tracked and studied, as the
scientific community and even our elected leaders see the present problems
as too important to ignore.

One need look no further back than the 1970s to see the stark contrast - who
these days brags that their hive made x lbs of honey and put out 2 swarms?
This was a common brag 100 years ago.

Joe wraps up his article by clearly stating that he is giving a pep-talk:

"As one who has been hit by the depression demon from time to time, the
intention here is to ensure affected beekeepers that they are not alone and
that measures exist to minimize depression."

While it is understandable that the current state of the problems of bees
and their keepers can even lead an respected industry leader like Joe to
feel he must give "pep talks", the important point here is that no such
self-doubt or depression surrounded beekeeping 100 years ago, which is a
more important metric than the trivia of individual losses cited by Peter in
his article.

 It is not depression to face reality and to set realistic expectations.
As for the past, the plural of "anecdote" is not "data".

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