Hello Jim & All,

>No matter what anyone might say, this many people can't all
be wrong or lying at the same time.

Could you give us some areas if not outfits effected as I just completed a
week long trip through Nebraska, Iowa , South Dakota and have not heard from
those beekeepers of any die offs with CCD symptoms. These were large outfits
1,000, 5,000, 2500, 6000 and 8,000 hives. Best bees in years. All these
outfits had lost 50% and up of their bees to varroa in 2004/2005.

The 6000 hive ran 100% Australian and the 2500 ran 40-50%. Thrilled with the
bees and pictures in my December ABJ article.

I have been on the phone recently with many California, Nevada and Utah
beekeepers. No CCD here.

 The best bees I always look at are in the larger operations. Always has
been.

Not to put down the two hive hobby beekeeper (are these the beekeepers
contacting you?) but many seem to always be losing hives to every cause
thinkable but beekeeper neglect. A couple years ago a certified master
beekeeper brought us some deadouts to put bees in. We could smell the AFB
without even looking. We said we can't put bees in those boxes and he argued
until we showed him what AFB looked at in his boxes. He had passed the test
for master beekeeper but did not have a clue what AFB looked or smelled
like.

I called many beekeepers in California and only found that a beekeeper in
the central valley was finding deadouts (but my source said nothing new for
the beekeeper) and that the hives of a large commercial beekeeper from North
Dakota had been arriving in California only on about four frames of bees but
not deadouts.

What are you hearing Randy O.?

I think I have got the most commercial beekeeping contacts of authors of bee
magazine articles and have just finished an article concerning CCD for the
December issue and the above is all I have found.

Are others on the list hearing of CCD losses?

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison


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