> E. F. Phillips one hundred years ago: "The beekeepers of the > United States lose at least one-tenth of their colonies of bees > every winter. This is a minimum loss, which is frequently > increased to one-half and sometimes more in certain sections." But what was the exception in Phillips time, only found only in "certain sections", and in exceptional years, has become the norm. One presumes that there is no argument with the USDA ARS on the subject of losses, or with their data collection methods. 2006 20-25% (per 2009 USDA ARS Report) 2007 31% (per 2009 Report) 2008 36% (per 2010 Report) 2009 29% (per 2010 Report) 2010 34% (per 2010 Report) 2011 34.4% (per 2011 Report) 2012 22% (per 2012 Report) 2013 23% (per 2013 Report) 2009 Report http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/ccd/ccdprogressreport.pdf 2010 Report http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/ccd/ccdprogressreport2010.pdf 2011 Report http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/ccd/ccdprogressreport2011.pdf 2012 Report http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/ccd/ccdprogressreport2012.pdf 2012 Report (HTML) http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/beelosses/ 2013 Report (HTML) http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2014/140515.htm *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html