Quoted for review purposes

> Research has been carried out by a team of 35 scientists forming part of the international COLOSS (prevention of honey bee COlony LOSSes) network (van der Zee et al., 2012), and 15 US scientists forming the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) (vanEnglesdorp et al., 2012).

> We must not ignore the rather sobering conclusion of these surveys that many of the causes of colony death, where known or suspected, were, or should have been avoidable. Beekeepers cannot blame unknown pests and diseases, multinational chemical companies, telecommunication companies or visiting aliens, for the, sadly, all too common cases where bees have died because the beekeeper simply did not ensure that the hive had a laying queen, was sufficiently strong in the autumn, or most importantly, was provisioned with sufficient food to survive the winter. These are things that can be changed by improved education, and by beekeepers spending a little more time being "beekeepers" rather than "bee owners".

Are bad beekeepers to blame for honey bee colony losses?
Norman Carreck NDB. Bee World. Volume 89 Number 1 March 2012

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