> Bad form to reply to self, correction instead

Actually, that netiquette point may have applied on on USENET, but here on 
BEE-L, replying under the same thread keeps all relevant material on thread. 
Starting a new topic guarantees that the correction is orphaned and possibly 
never read by those browsing a topic in the archives.  (Browsing the 
archives can be a very pleasurable, instructive, and addictive pursuit, and 
a great BEE-L fix for addicts on  days when the rate slows or topics seem 
dull).

At any rate, I find your comments fascinating, although somewhat cryptic, so 
hope you will expand a bit on what you have written.  I'm also wondering if 
you have called in the experts to sample and corroborate your CCD 
suspicions, and document other details such as amounts of feed in hives, the 
possibility of poisoning, etc.

> By Dec/06 probably 3/4 had absconded

True absconding in fall or winter is very odd, assuming that the hive or 
hives absconded (queen and all).  On the other hand, hives dwindling from 
bees drifting out to queeenright hives or being robbed out, progressively 
(little conflict and apparently normal flight to the casual observer) or 
actively (much turmoil) is fairly normal at the end of the season.

> By feb/07 all were dead 10/10

Such an early death, especially by dwindling, in my experience, is usually a 
sign of a previous starvation in late summer or fall.

This is commonly the result of previous removal of honey without immediate 
and adequate feeding, or on the assumption that a flow will continue or that 
a fall flow will soon keep the bees fed.  Just because a hive does not 
actually *die* of starvation does not mean that the individual bees have not 
starved and been severely damaged by the experience.  Moreover, near 
starvation results in the pollen stores being stripped of the honey 
covering, and possibly being consumed rather than being conserved for late 
winter and spring build-up.

Hives that are running short on stores also tend to be desperate and make 
heroic efforts to rebuild their reserve of stores and will sacrifice bee 
life and winter bees' internal reserves to do so.

Some beekeepers try to exploit the effect of empty combs on bees by robbing 
very close, but doing so can be risky unless a heavy flow is on and certain 
to continue uninterrupted.  IMO it is dangerous, particularly for the casual 
beekeeper.  Even a day or two of rain or strong wind can kill such hives or 
weaken the bees irrevocably.

Even if there is nothing available in their area, starving bees will wear 
themselves out trying to find something.  In the process, they also burn up 
what remaining stores they have, and the hive is left light, with old bees 
going into winter.  Sometimes they get lucky and get a flow and fill up, but 
the damage is done.

That is why commercial beekeepers will feed the bees up to winter weight as 
quickly as possible as soon as they make the final pull.  I can testify that 
even though there are some flows, my friends are knocking themselves out 
right now getting the last supers off, and feeding immediately and 
generously and to get the bees settled down ASAP.

In short, bees robbed too close and left light during early fall age badly 
and die before they can replace themselves in spring.  They are also very 
prone to all the usual maladies, which are often erroneously selected as the 
cause of death, because the root cause is, by the time of the final demise, 
no longer in memory -- assuming it was even observed and recognized at the 
time it happened.

I cannot say the above too often, because this occurrence is so subtle, so 
common, and so often goes unnoticed, right under a beekeeper's eye.  I know 
that Bob will agree.

> Killed the neighbours bees too (3/4mi) 10/11

This is really odd.  Hope that the inspectors were consulted if all the CCD 
symptoms were present.  However, I strongly suspect a problem with the late 
summer or fall flows.

> Fall/06 in Ont was VERY mild - this claimed the cause

This tends to confirm my suspicions unless you can tell me that the hives 
never had less that 20 lbs of stores -- even for a few days.  Strong hives 
go nuts if they are on the edge of starving. 

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Access BEE-L directly at:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L