Hi all
I have written and presented on this topic many times, but it is surprising how many people just don't "get it." Bee losses are not new, beekeeping has collapsed and rebounded countless times. This is from about 100 years ago and yet it sounds familiar.

Bee diseases
on the one hand and winter losses
on the other, have actually caused
a decrease of from 30 per cent to
50 per cent of all colonies in the
state between the years 1900 and
1918. Shortly prior to 1918 interest
in apiculture had fallen to
the lowest ebb in the state, and
it was no uncommon sight to see
hundreds of empty hives standIng
where prosperous and productive
apiaries had once been.

Through better inspection laws
and educational work this situation
is being slowly remedied.

Russell, H. L., & Morrison, F. B. (1920). New Farm Facts: Annual Report of the Director, 1919-1920 (Vol. 323). Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Wisconsin.

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