> CCD:
>Was it a uniform malady with a common set of causes throughout the US?
Other countries?
By definition, yes.  But reporting was biased, especially when one received
compensation for colonies lost to "CCD."
Many reports of "CCD" were for colonies that died from inadequate varroa
management, although they exhibited different field signs than quick
disappearance of the adult bees while brood was present, or the collapse of
a broodright colony to a silver-dollar sized patch of workers around a
laying queen.  Those field signs are the same as those for collapse due to
nosema, either *apis *or *ceranae*.  CCD coincidentally occurred during the
invasive wave o *Nosema ceranae*.  And in my operation, the signs of CCD
were always associated with a high prevalence of *N. ceranae*-infected bees
in the remaining cluster.  But I know of many reported cases of "CCD" that
were clearly due to varroa/DWV.

>Was it a patchwork of situations that coincided in time and were caused
by different factors?
Absolutely -- it was a perfect storm.  Drought, new strains of EFB,
ideopathic brood disease syndrome and "snot brood,"  failure of miticides
to control varroa, evolution of DWV, Lake Sinai virus getting a foothold,
the large increase in applications of fungicides across the U.S., all
coupled with the increase in demand for hives for almonds,which made
beekeepers keep more colonies than they could properly care for, and of
course the first wave of *N. ceranae.*

>Is it still around?
All the above are still around, but I don't see most but rarely.


Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
530 277 4450
ScientificBeekeeping.com

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