> Additionally, the increasing loss of honey bee colonies suffered by
> the commercial beekeepers that provide pollination services to
> commercial growers indicates that many food supplies are imperiled."
>
Paul said:
> However, to my knowledge there are no specific examples of farming
> areas in the USA where honeybees, hoverflies, wasps, bumblebees,
> moths and butterflies are now rare or have declined to the point of
> diminishing crop yields.

Paul you amaze me. My phone rang off the wall last spring wanting hives for
almonds. 100,000 hives short is a figure tossed around by the National
organizations. I had offers of $200 a hive for three framers.

I turn down growers wanting bees all the time. Never used to be the case.

Keeping hive numbers up today is a full time job. As I said in a prior post
the worry is the demise of strong fall hives properly prepared for winter or
almonds under unusual circumstance.  Whatever is going on in the hives is
real and easy to see. Jerry Brumenshenk said (I think) he checked around 35
commercial operations in California last winter which claimed losses under
*unusual circumstance*. These are professional beekeepers and many hire some
of the best workers from other countries. The workers from the former Soviet
union I have spoke with have given me very detailed description of what they
have seen.

Since you want to point to statistics Paul here is a statistic for you:

The areas with the most documented CCD are also the areas of the most
neonicotinoid use.

The fact is pointed out in great detail in the book "A Spring Without Bees".

Coincidence or not?  I certainly do not know but saw the pattern in fall
2006.

bob

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