Hello Jerry & All,
I agree with Jerry's assesment of the California issue.

The die offs are real and continuing and need our attention.

We need every beekeeper to be successful!

If not a new problem then we still need to help beekeepers to keep hives
alive. If a new problem we need to address the new problem but still need to
help beekeepers solve the old problems.

Varroa remains a big problem for many operations. Soon I will have fought
varroa for 20 years! I have lost half my hives twice( documented in
archives).

Control varroa and virus problems seem to go away. Randy Oliver has an
excellent article in the March issue of ABJ on testing and managing  varroa.

The beekeepers which seem to be not seeing CCD are keeping a tight control
on varroa from my observations. I am not saying CCD is totally related to
varroa and virus but only pointing out what I am hearing from those which
are not seeing CCD.

My personal observation includes queens not lasting over two seasons and
bees not as prolific as in the old days.

I applaud those which have been looking into the die offs ( as do all
beekeepers) but a drop in the bucket as far as the help the industry needs.

Sincerely,
Bob Harrison



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