While there is some disagreement on CCD in general the winter loss association to CCD in the 
North just doesn't fly with a lot of stationary beekeepers.

I have wintered bees since 1994 and others around me for much longer then that and we all seem 
to agree that some years and some strains lose more bees over the winter then others. We have 
always associated the dead bees on the snow in front of the hives as cleansing flghts gone bad or 
winter bees damaged from mites dying off. 

If folks are calling that CCD then we've had it as far as any old timers can remember, we call it 
winterkill. Beekeepers who live in climes that don't have 3-4 months of winter commenting on 
winter CCDl does not add up to credible sources IMO

Of 325 hives I wrapped my pure Russians had a markedly lower number of bees on the ground 
this spring as compared to Purvis or Italians.

Winter losses last year (06-07) were very high over the north and I was one of them. Most of the 
dead though were on the bottom boards or stuck in the combs. 

Here's more speculation on winter CCD. 

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/bees/colony-collapse-disorder-
55040101

question for Jerry B did you have a baseline of wintering inside or outside to compare this past 
winter with? 

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