>Were they an acknowledged expert in a relevant field?
What is an opinion worth?

Opinion are a part of most diagnosis,
In my opinion.  ;)

A qualified inspector of about 30 years.
Commercial beekeeper.
Routine update training at Penn State. 
Inspecting hundreds of colonies per year.
I would hold his opinion in high regard.
 
>Since an empty hive is the #1 symptom,
(and usually several hives are empty)
then I don't know why you gave ccd
more than a moments thought

I did not consider CCD,  but experts,
some located on this list were telling 
me it could be symptomatic of CCD.
The inspector was at my place as
part of a routine inspection, not due
to any request on my part.

>Another ccd symptom is:  very few bees on baseboard, < 1 cup, typ .5 
(IMO)

Thats an example of one of the ambiguous 
symptoms, number of dead bees will vary from colony 
to colony, and this can be a symptom of dwindling 
disease and winter die offs by varroa, T-mite etc.

>Which means they fly out to die, no matter the weather
the cluster shrinks rapidly, and the next cold snap it is dead,
the size of a fist. 

Also a very typical symptom seen in the varroa crashes 
of 95-96 in north east, and several years after.

Best Wishes,
J. Waggle

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