James Fischer wrote:
> I don't have a count for you, but like Dick Marron, I can say that
> I have seen the problem with my own eyes in multiple operations.
> You may recall that I am slightly more skeptical than most, so 
> I have also taken the time to read, talk with people, ask pointed
> questions, and think about what is known versus what is not.
>
> So please don't keep expecting updates on the salinity of the
> water when the problem is that beekeepers are drowning.
Most of these discussions seem to go full circle. My original post was 
on the hype around CCD and how universal it is.After all, we have 
numbers out there that range from 2-80% of bees, at least in the Eastern 
US that have succumbed to CCD. Most media latch on to the upper numbers.

You say that beekeepers are drowning, but is that all beekeepers, most 
beekeepers, some beekeepers, or just a few? You have seen the problem 
close up and are involved, but many of us have not seen the problem at 
all and know few or none who have experienced what is portrayed as a 
universal problem. Add to that that, some who I do know (several 
commercial operations) thought they had it but it was not CCD.

I understand that major losses have been suffered by some commercial 
beekeepers. When it happens to you or to a friend, it is a tragedy but 
when you are not effected, a statistic. But statistics do give those 
separate from the problem an idea of the extent of the problem. Right 
now, because there is no quantification of the extent of CCD, there can 
be hype and hysteria.

I am back to where I began.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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