* I thought the article was balanced on the whole, countering the  
alarmist reports linking the bees' demise with everything that is  
"wrong" with modern life. However, the facts start to become dated  
toward the end:

 > Stocks of domesticated honeybees, the most important crop  
pollinator of all, have also decreased considerably in the US and some  
European countries in recent decades. However, these declines have  
been more than offset by strong increases in Asia, Latin America and  
Africa. Indeed, the number of managed honeybee hives worldwide has  
increased by about 45 per cent in the past five decades.

* That is what I thought. But reports of die-offs are starting to  
surface from Asia, Latin America and Africa, as I reported this week.

 > There have also been scare stories about "colony collapse disorder"  
and the spread of Varroa mites in the US and Europe. Again, these are  
real phenomena, but they are short-term blips rather than the driving  
forces of long-term trends.

* I would hardly call these "blips", particularly if colony collapse  
is in fact a result of long-term varroa infestation and the  
concomitant buildup and evolution of viruses. The very contagious  
nature of so-called colony collapse leads one to suspect a pathogen.  
And if it has not yet been identified, it may be world wide before we  
know what it really is.

Reed M. Johnson, et al:

 > Microarray analysis revealed unusual ribosomal RNA fragments that  
were conspicuously more abundant in the guts of CCD bees. The presence  
of these fragments may be a possible consequence of picorna-like viral  
infection ... Ribosomal fragment abundance and presence of multiple  
viruses may prove to be useful diagnostic markers for colonies  
afflicted with CCD.

* * *

Peter L Borst
Ithaca NY

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