I agree with Randy, CCD cannot be linked directly with anything at this point. What we have learned, millions of dollars down the line, is that the health of the European honey bee in both Europe and the Americas, is abysmal. What needs to be focused on now is how to get and keep healthy colonies, and use these to determine what factors or combination of factors tips them over the edge. Because once the colony's health is compromised, regardless of the cause, it will much more easily fall prey to every pest that comes along. 

I attended both the presentation in Alfred, NY and the 5 day Pollination Extravaganza at Penn State. I hope to write a comprehensive article summarizing some of what was shared at those events. I just need a quiet week or two (maybe this winter?). Chief among the discoveries we have made is that the levels of all pesticides in colonies is troubling, but most of all miticides and fungicides. The effect of the combination of many of these chemicals is largely unknown, and they seem to magnify the effects of each other. 

I think it is imperative to not assume that because these chemicals don't kill bees outright, that it follows that they are safe in the long term or in unforeseen combinations. If you combine mite-weakened immune system, heavy virus load, fungal and bacterial pathogens, and a growing mix of pesticides, how can you hope to have a healthy colony? And without a baseline from which to measure *what is health* we begin to accept illness as the status quo. 

So many businesses are struggling at the edge of disaster that folks have lost sight of what healthy really means. Not just physical but financial health. Without some sort of strength in reserve, you get knocked down by the slightest blow. 

Peter Loring Borst
Ithaca  NY USA
peterloringborst.com

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