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Subject:
From:
"J. Waggle" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 28 Oct 2007 13:11:48 -0400
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Jim writes:
>Still in denial?
>You should see my e-mail and voice mail.
>Just October's pile clearly indicates that CCD never went away,
>and has become more obvious as fall has arrived.

Not sure that I am in denial,,,,  
But I don't know how a pile of e-mail and voice mail indicates that it was 
CCD, or that CCD never went away.  Where is the ‘diagnosis’ in the 
equation?  This is probably more a reflection of a <<suspicion>>, rather 
than any evidence of CCD being the actual cause.  

So far, I have seen just about every succumbed colony in the USA being 
blamed on CCD.   CCD has become the 'convenient diagnosis' for every 
colony death ranging from queenlessness to mismanagement to what ever.  
And has provided a great source of material for the bee mag writers.  

It is human nature to find an explanation for the unknown cause of death.  
In 1912 for example, beekeepers in Illinois suffered a severe decline in 
nectar flow and subsequent great bee mortality.  Lacking a sure diagnosis 
it was explained by some that     
“… the weather made the bees lazy.” 

The more I compare “CCD” to previous bee mortalities, the more it shows as 
a rather minor event, a natural occurrence, over blown out of proportion 
by blogs, news hype and discussion lists. 

I'm strongly with Bob on this, 'the industry is strong'.

Brian Writes:
>… we could file this news story under "who cares" ....... 

I would file it under, “been there done that”.

"CCD", seems to be a minor event when compared to kills of the past:

In accordance with reporting every colony collapse as CCD, we must include 
the following die-offs as CCD events.  Especially the 1794 instance in 
Edinburgh which IMO is highly symptomatic of CCD. 

950, 992 and 1443 Ireland In Ireland, there was a “great mortality of 
bees” (Flemming G (1871)

1794 Edinburgh, Midlothian
“The following extraordinary instance of the industry of Bees, happened 
this season in a bee hive the property of Mr. John Scotland, Merchant, 
Dunfermline. 
...What is very remarkable, when 
the hive was smoked, there were not above 200 bees in it..

1872 Wisconsin Janesville, 
“—A gentleman, in Fond du Lac, who usually keeps a great many bees, states 
that at least two-thirds of his bees died last winter. He thinks that from 
two-thirds to three-quarters of the bees in the county have died this 
year.”

1879 Illinois 
“Extraordinary Mortality among Bees… One large bee raiser in this State 
who had 220 swarms of bees has now only eighteen, and the other who had 
over 800 swarms has now not a single healthy hive of bees. It has been 
ascertained by correspondence that in New York and the New England States 
over 60 per cent, of the bees have died,..” 

1885 United States 
"The season of 1884-85 stands out in the history of American beekeeping as 
one of terrible devastation" (BEEKEEPING (1915) By E.F. Phillips Pg. 343)

1885 Iowa 
“…with great unanimity they denounce the honey dew as the cause of the 
unexampled and ruinous losses of bees during the past winter. One bee-
keeper loses fifty-one out of fifty-three colonies, and the two left, are 
miserably weak. Others have lost ninety-five per cent…” 

1904 United States 
"During the winter of 1903-04 probably seventy percent of the bees in New 
England died." (BEEKEEPING (1915) By E.F. Phillips Pg. 343)

1904 Wisconsin 
“Hard on the Bees. Bee keepers report that the present winter has been an 
exceptionally hard one on the swarms, and that as a consequence there will 
be a great loss to keepers….” 

1905 Texas 
“…Hard Winter and Too Much Rain Curtails Industry.…. …Phillips, president 
of the Nueces Valley Beekeepers’ Association, states … Last winter the 
beekeepers suffered a loss, of probably 50 percent of their stock, and the 
rains during the spring have been detrimental to the honey flow in the 
flowers up to this time.” 

1910 United States 
"....in 1909-10 the loss was probably fifty per cent in the northeastern 
United States." (BEEKEEPING (1915) By E.F. Phillips Pg. 343) 

1910 Nebraska 
“… The News learns that all, or nearly all, of the bees in this part of 
the state were killed by the severe winter. The owners of a large number 
of hives on examination find that the bees died In the early part of 
winter. This means a shortage in the honey crop. There is now and then a 
hive where there are a few live bees and in some instances a hive or two, 
out of many, escape, but the slaughter was the worst known in this section 
for years.” 

1912 United States 
"The winter of 1911-12 was also one of heavy mortality, the actual death 
of colonies costing the beekeepers in the eastern United States millions 
of dollars." (BEEKEEPING (1915) By E.F. Phillips Pg. 343) 

1912 Illinois 
“The honey crop In central Illinois, will be light this season, due to the 
fact that many of the Insects were killed by the severe temperature of 
last winter. “

1917 California 
“…Winter losses of bees range from 10 to 15 per cent, and in some states 
the loss was almost 50 per cent during the winter of 1916-17,…”

1996 New York 
“Two ferocious mites are decimating a bee population already weakened by 
two straight harsh New York winters….” "It's devastating." Just ask 
commercial beekeeper John Earle of Locke, who lost 70 percent of his 900 
hives to the mites…”

Best Wishes,

Joe Waggle ~ Derry, PA   
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' 
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles

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