Hi All,

Pardon me for not searching the archives, but someone recently asked about
worldwide colony losses.
Perhaps the best review (especially in the summary table) can be found at:

http://coloss.org/publications/Zagreb%20Proceedings

The Coloss (Colony Loss) group (coloss.org), organized by Peter Neumann of
Switzerland, is a collaboration of researchers representing countries
throughout the world.

Read it yourself, but it appears to me that CCD symptoms are not a universal
problem, although similar symptoms are seen in some cases.  Poor nutrition,
varroa, varroacides, Nosema ceranae, viruses and pesticides are commonly
blamed or suspected, roughly in that order (by my quick read of the
summaries).  I found the summary from Denmark to be especially interesting.
Here is an excerpt:

Since 1986 we have data on
colony loss. During this period there were three observations of severe
loss.
In 1986, before a Varroa destructor population established in Denmark, 27 %
of colonies died, in 1996, after Varroa destructor had spread to most
colonies,
symptoms similar to colony collapse disorder were reported and 30 % of
colonies died, and finally in late fall/spring 2007/08 beekeepers recorded
32,8
% loss of colonies, based on a survey from nearly 6000 colonies. The
average winter loss is 16,9 %. However, excluding the three severe episodes
in 1986, 1996 and 2008 the average colony loss drops to 12 %, more
acceptable to beekeepers."

Randy Oliver

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