The problem I have with the survey is that it relied on the opinions from 
beekeeper diagnosis of the cause of death and NOT expert analysis.  There 
is existing no ’test’ that will diagnose CCD, it is diagnosed by the 
symptoms which are not always the same in each case and therefore could be 
caused by totally different set of factors, so a diagnosis of CCD is based 
largely on opinion and assumptions from the beekeeper.

An Estimate of Managed Colony. Losses in the Winter of 2006 – 2007

http://www.ento.psu.edu/MAAREC/CCDPpt/CCDJuly07ABJArticle-1.pdf

By specifying the definition of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), meaning 
that “50% of their dead colonies were found without bees and/or with very 
few dead bees in the hive or apiary.”  You potentially have a large number 
of hobbyist with under 5 colonies loosing 50% of more hives (an 
insignificant 1 to 3 colonies) to mismanagement or absconding from some 
other stress factor being automatically determined to be CCD related.  

Is a 2 or 4 colony hobby operation loosing 50% the same as a 1000 colony 
operation run by an expert loosing 50%?,,, I think not!

Perhaps a higher incidence of misdiagnoses in smaller operations can be 
expected due to the “50% of their dead colonies were found without bees” 
as an automatic determination of CCD, and the propensity for the majority 
of hobbyist to be that of inexperienced beekeepers more prone to failures 
in management.   

The survey asked beekeepers, inexperienced and expert alike:
“6) to what the beekeeper attributed the losses”

My experience from reading ‘NEED HELP’ letters from new bees is that the 
inexperienced looking for a single cause to blame are often quick to 
diagnose losses by guess work, while highly experienced beekeepers will 
make the determination by proper investigation, and likely ruling out the 
so called CCD as the cause, while inexperienced looking for answers to a 
perplexing loss might br quick to assuming it to be CCD.

REPORT:
“Most hobbyist beekeepers believed that starvation was the leading cause 
of death in their colonies, while commercial beekeepers overwhelming 
believed invertebrate pests (Varroa mites, honey bee tracheal mites, 
and/or small hive beetles) were the leading cause of colony mortality.”

OK, This is a contridiction of symptoms!
what is CCD then. Starvation? OR parasites?
OR if symptoms are different between commercial and hobby operations, WHY 
are they lumped together as the same diagnosis of CCD if they are so 
different? 

Best Wishes,

Joe Waggle ~ Derry, PA ‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' 
FeralBeeProject.com 
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HoneybeeArticles

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