>>> Colonies not fed pollen in CA display the symptoms of CCD. > Not true, Waldemar. They are just weak and don't build up early enough > for almonds. No Calif beekeeper is confusing this with CCD. Lack of feed in the hive for any period of time, and the subsequent partial starvation will often lead to unexplained losses some time later, often months, and especially in late fall, if the deprivation happened in late summer -- even if the bees are fall fed. I've seen it. I've wondered how much of *apparent* CCD is the result of extracting too close or drought, or both, and partial starvation, since the effects are often delayed until late fall/early winter, but I hate to speculate while the CCD team is out in the trenches. There are some symptoms reported in bona fide CCD cases that would not occur with the scenario above. There has been too much second-guessing and speculation IMO. ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************