In the Catch the Buzz that discussed woodenware reuse there was a 
reminder that "the primary indicator of CCD is lots of brood but few 
bees and no dead bees in the hive. If you have a dead-out with dead bees 
but no brood, you can't blame CCD".

Please correct me, but that would appear to rule out most if not all 
winter kill since there is not "lots of brood" during most of the winter 
months in the North. It would apply to spring through fall, so CCD would 
seem to be a disease that only hits an active colony, similar to 
Disappearing Disease and Fall Dwindle Disease among others.

For some winter kills you can have some brood, few bees and "no dead 
bees" (something hard to find since there always are dead bees on the 
bottom board- just a matter of degree) with colonies that survive the 
winter with mites, especially TM. The ones that do not survive will have 
dead bees and no or little brood.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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