Subject: [BEE-L] Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of
bee catast rophe


I think its important to keep these types of reports in front of the public
as the numbers of hive loss worldwide keeps growing. 50% common in large
*UP.SO. migratory operations* and 75-80% not uncommon.
A decent winter loss today is 25% to 35%.

In years gone past 10% or less.

Many hypothesis exist about the reasons .

No "smoking gun" has been found so most hypothesis can be based *to a
degree* on a feasible cause except perhaps for "honeybee rapture" as a cause 
told to me by a preacher. The preacher said he was going to be taken up 
next!

Five years into the problem many of us can see patterns starting to develop.
Most researchers working on a possible cause and focused on a single cause
can not *in my opinion* see these patterns. Why would they as with most
their actual daily lab work does not include looking at the shear number of
hives the commercial industry sees.

The first pattern to develop was location.

 the location the bees were on before the crash.

Whole semi loads crashing as in 2006 with Lance Sundberg & Dave Hackenberg
( start of CCD) is kind of a first. In the Sundberg case the bees were in 
great shape two weeks earlier.

*if* location is important then why?

Is the key to improvement in hive loss for the larger operator choosing
better pollination contracts and not using locations on which most hives
start crash year after year?

Below taken from the spring newsletter of the Missouri extension service 
page 2:
I found the extension service has been advising farmers to drench their  hay 
and pasture fields with imidacloprid ( Merit) to kill White grubs. While 
killing the White grubs being systemic all the white Dutch and other plants 
bees work are picking up the imidacloprid.

Form the newsletter:
" Preventive application is best applied in May or June. Chemicals such as 
imidacloprid ( merit) or halofenozide ( Mach 2) are recommended. These 
chemicals are safest for humans and other animals and are relatively 
non-toxic to earth worms , birds and honeybees"

" These chemicals provide SEASON-LONG CONTROL , lasting six to eight weeks 
in the soil. "

I have been doing detective work and have found the use of imidacloprid for 
White grubs in a field close to my hives during May & June 2009 ( Our main 
white Dutch clover flow) has caused population loss and dead hives.

There are other choices for killing white grubs than imidacloprid a systemic 
pesticide!

I dug down in a field on which imid had been used and guess what. I could 
not find an earthworm.

bob

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