> is it possible that fluvalinate, coumaphos, antibiotics, or 
> other treatment ("shop towel" or otherwise)...or a combination 
> of these, is killing the microogranisms or otherwise affecting 
> the action of these processes?  that the transformation of 
> pollen into beebread is somehow inhibited?

This would not explain CCD, as a number of beekeepers who use no 
treatments at all who have had significant CCD losses 
(or, more to the point, CCD-like symptoms). 

The important point is that the only things that CCD has
consistently correlated to has been the simultaneous
combination of all of:

1)  Nosema apis
2)  Nosema ceranae
3)  Kashmir bee virus
4)  Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus

(The above is not my opinion, this is the current "for publication"
consensus. I personally find the inclusion of IAPV in the list to 
be a gratuitous attempt to save face on the part of those who made 
such a premature fuss about it last September.)

One the other hand, researchers in Spain are claiming that they
can reproduce all the "CCD Symptoms" with nothing but the deliberate 
introduction of Nosema ceranae.

If you look at the list above, you'll note that the only "new" item
is the Nosema ceranae.  Everything else, we've had for quite some time.

So we still don't have a cause.
On the other hand, we've had varroa for over 20 years now, and the
"solutions" are getting less and less attractive in terms of the
labor required to implement them.  I suspect that there is a whole
lot of experimentation going on with oxalic acid dribbling, as so
many people are interested in gathering research data to assist 
with the approval process.  Yep, its all for science.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

****************************************************
* General Information About BEE-L is available at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm   *
****************************************************