Juanse asked an astute question.  Reading the sources
he cited, one would think that no progress had been
made.  

We have learned much, but we still have to sort though
what we read to separate the press hype from the 
reality-based beekeeping.  The convincing evidence at 
hand has not been sufficient to prompt the press and 
some researchers to cross anything off the "suspect list".  

Sad to say, there are people with agendas, and it is 
not in their best interest to admit that some suspects
have good alibis.  Self-interest reigns.
 
The good news is that rumblings can be felt, and those
rumblings may very well be the rumbling of printing
presses at science journals.  I fear that more facts 
won't really change much, as the set of facts at hand 
has had so little impact on the perceptions of the 
general civilian population and the beekeeper population.

So, lets slog through the cited articles, shall we?

Juanse referenced:

http://tinyurl.com/5v66gu

or
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/bees/colony-collapse-d
isorder-55090101


Right off the bat, there's an interesting and
commonly-held misconception to correct:

:: "... bees are still dying from symptoms that 
:: have been identified as Colony Collapse Disorder."

But this is something that we HAVEN'T learned yet.
There still is no consensus on what symptoms we
can identify as "CCD". The "CCD Working Group" 
listed this as a top priority well over a year 
ago, and there has yet to be even an attempt at 
a definition of "CCD" and/or the symptoms.

This is not a trivial point.  Without an agreed-upon
list of symptoms, different researchers are forced to
decide for themselves where to draw the line, and 
their work is open to very basic critique by anyone
who might not share the same "definition".

:: "The jury is still out on IAPV, at least 
:: until newer studies are published."

This statement is far too charitable to a group
that showed no such charity toward other 
researchers right here on Bee-L.  Science is a 
full-body contact sport, and "IAPV" was not just 
tackled by the Evans/Chen paper, it was body-slammed, 
tasered, closelined, and teabagged.  This virus is 
kept on the list of "suspects" because few people 
have the backbone to admit in public that each 
and every claim made about IAPV turned out to 
be utterly wrong.  The jury is not "still out", 
it ruled long ago.
http://bee-quick.com/reprints/claims_collapse.pdf

:: "...new pesticides... have made international 
:: headlines and definitely can't be overlooked."

This statement is directly contradicted by a prior
post to the same blog entitled "Evidence That Colony 
Collapse Disorder Is a Disease Expert: Pesticide 
Poisoning Wouldn't Roll Through Colonies This Way".  
One would think that the epidemiology described 
would be enough to settle the issue, and make 
clear that pesticides CAN be overlooked, at least 
as a cause of CCD.

http://tinyurl.com/4ykwpm

or
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/bees/colony-collapse-d
isorder-55050802

But what more can one expect from a website called 
"The Daily Green"?  While one would hope that
standards of journalism would trump any 
agenda or preconceived notions, there is simply 
no standard of proof sufficient to rule out 
pesticides as a cause of CCD in the mind of this 
sort of "infotainment" outlet.  This is not as
much a lack of ability to learn as it is a
cynical exploitation of a civilian population
who seem to WANT to read a certain type of
doom and gloom story about how pesticides are
the root of all evil.  Much like Fox News, 
they can sell ads to eyeballs that want to
be reassured that their worldview is correct
rather than be informed and educated.  

:: "One surprise was the nutrition deficiencies...
:: ... some of the new diets are being explored, 
:: new diets have been concocted..."

I think that the evidence that proves that CCD is 
a Disease, (rather than a pesticide problem) must 
also prove that any nutrition problem could also 
be ruled out as a cause of CCD. 

So, while every shred of tangible evidence that is 
worthy of being called "evidence" points clearly to
CCD being a disease caused by one or more invasive
exotic pathogens, there seems to be a lack of 
willingness to admit that actual progress has been 
made, and that many of the "suspects" can be eliminated
as a direct result of that progress.

To summarize, we have compelling evidence that
CCD is a disease, caused by a pathogen that can 
spread from hive to hive, and then reproduce rapidly
in the newly-infected hive.

> So far the villain in Colony Collapse Disorder is 
> mostly the lack of information.

No, we have lots of information.  The villain here
is self-interest, and stubborn ignorance, reinforced
by a "press" that finds it easier and more profitable 
to keep repeating the same fictions over and over 
as if it were "information" rather than do the harder 
work of explaining reality in terms that can be understood.

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