Hi Jerry and All

It seems exceptionally quiet on here today - does that mean
that everyone is filling out their CCD returns?!

Just two things to throw into this debate:

1. As far as I can tell, we are not having anything like
this in the UK, though we must share some factors - such as
imidacloprid use (which I have to say was the culprit I
first thought about).  Is there anywhere in the world with
something similar at the moment?  Any UK beekeepers care to
correct me?

2. I know that you are well aware of the French experience
in the mid-1990s when pesticides were getting the lion's
share of the blame.  If you don't know, Yves Le Conte will
be talking at the ESA meeting, which looks like it is in
four weeks time meeting in Manitoba.  His abstract (link
below) finishes 'This presentation will discuss the history
and the different sides of the conflict including new data
on multifactorial effects.'  Could be useful for those of
you puzzling over CCD.

http://esa.ent.iastate.edu/confreg/?gridaction=viewonepresentation&year=2007&presnum=155

If the States now has something similar to the French
problems, the bad news is that the problem persisted over
several years, saw hive numbers drop by a third, and mean
honey yields fall by over 50%.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imidacloprid_effects_on_bee_population

bye for now

Gavin.

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