The first published record of this disorder appeared in 1869. An
anonymous author reported loss of bees which left behind hives with
plenty of honey. It was speculated that the death was due to a lack of
pollen, poisonous honey, or a hot summer. Subsequently, Aikin
described losses in Colorado in 1891 and 1896 where large clusters
disappeared or dwindled to tiny clusters with queens in May, hence the
name "May disease". Investigations at the time identified various
fungi with these collapses. Burnside was able to isolate, culture, and
reproduce symptoms very similar to CCD with a strain of Aspergillus
fungi.

In three epidemics between 1905 and 1919, 90% of the honey bee
colonies on the Island of Wight in the United Kingdom died. Bees
afflicted with this disorder could not fly, but crawled from the
entrance. Researchers disagreed as to the cause of this affliction.
Some concluded that the losses were due to acarine disease or the
honey bee tracheal mite, Acarapis woodi. Others believed that
starvation was the cause of the losses]; while still others thought
Nosema disease caused the high losses . Some affected beekeepers over
the years have blamed their losses on the so-called "Isle of Wight
disease" whenever they could not find another cause

Colony Collapse Disorder: Have We Seen This Before?
Robyn M. Underwood and Dennis vanEngelsdorp

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