James Fischer wrote:

Exactly what he warned us about many moons ago and got a ton of flack.

The problem with CCD is succinctly described in Jim's post and one I 
have continually come back to, which is there is no good before (and 
even after) set of data. All good real time experiments need to have the 
before/during/after data to arrive at any decent conclusions. Controls 
have to be established and variables controlled.

Even worse, let us look at just what is implied and see the logical 
outcome. IAPV is the primary culprit. As a virus, we should see it 
fairly wide spread just because of the movement of migratory beekeepers 
through almonds and blueberries. You have beekeepers from all over the 
country participating so contact and spread of the virus is certain. 
Transit conditions mean the virus should spread within colonies and you 
should see CCD at the end of the transit. But we in Maine did not. I 
have not heard reports from Florida about returning colonies and CCD.

However, if we look at what will happen in a few months, you should see 
Varroa and Tracheal mite caused loss going into the fall and winter. It 
does not matter if the virus is IAPV, KBV or anything else that may live 
in bees. The combination of high mite load and virus are well documented 
and are seen every year. Some beekeepers understand what they see and 
some do not. We will see CCD reported this fall but will it be CCD or 
normal mite kills? Good luck.

I also feel a bit vindicated, but for the wrong reason. The study does 
implicate Varroa (and Tracheal is also a culprit) as a factor in CCD. 
Nice to have that, but I am still in Jerry B's camp in that actual CCD 
is not necessarily related to Varroa. It is Disappearing Disease or 
something very akin to it and that disease was here long before the mites.

CCD is out there, but it is ill defined since many things can yield the 
same symptoms. As I noted, CCD was reported by one beekeeper coming into 
Maine but it was not. The symptoms were the same. Mites and virus also 
give CCD like symptoms, but you need to know what you are looking at. 
Not enough beekeepers do.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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