The CCD is getting some press - and as usual, some of it is wrong.   I'm just 
back from California, where the CCD looked at colonies.  Jeff  Pettis and 
Nathan, Dennis VanEngelsdorp, David Westervelt, Scott Debnam, and  myself 
examined colonies, took samples.  Still no definitive answers.
 
We found colonies with the same symptoms as I and David saw in  Florida.  
Severity of the disorder ranged from mild to over 60% loss.   In one situation, 
three holding yards were in the same field, each about .5 mile  apart, forming 
a triangle.  
 
One yard had collapsed - over half the yard contained dead outs, and about  
half of the remaining colonies were more or less gone.  None of the  remaining 
colonies were adequate for pollination.  Another yard in same  field had some 
dwindling colonies.  The third yard was fine, bees or all  ages, good food 
stores.  These three yards came from three different  states.  
 
As we've seen before, bees in the collapsed yard were not robbing OR being  
robbed by bees from the other two, relatively nearby yards -- yet each  
collapsed hive had a good 30-40 lbs of honey.  In the best yard, the  few deadouts (< 
1%) that were found, had been robbed out, or were being  robbed.  Note, the 
collapsed yard had lots of food, and had to have had  strong colonies at some 
time.  Food stores and pollen stores were plentiful  in the stacks of deadout 
boxes.  
 
We did not see as much chilled off brood as in Florida -- but it was cool  in 
California, without a lot of blossom.  Some pollen was being  collected.  
Looks like most hives had a brood break as evidenced by a lack  of capped brood 
-- but most colonies, whether displaying the dwindling or  not, had newly laid 
eggs and young larvae.  Looking in the stacks of  deadouts -- we did find 
brood frames with chilled off brood, as in  Florida.  So, the collapse occurred 
when both food and brood were  plentiful.
 
At a California meeting/dinner of beekeepers (~ 100 beekeepers) last  week, a 
show of hands indicated some beekeepers had less than 20% losses, good  bees, 
some had 20-40% losses - but there were a fair number reporting losses of  
40-60%, and even a few with 60% or greater.
 
As in Florida, this disorder is evidenced in many migratory  operations, but 
it is also seen in non-migratory bees.  We keep adding  states, the latest 
seen in California added Idaho and Utah.
 
As per the press -- I did not say that any colony had collapsed 'after they  
had been put in the almond groves' as indicated by the Palm Beach  Post.  I 
did say that many colonies had collapsed in CA before being placed  into the 
groves AND that I hoped that beekeepers did not combine affected  colonies, 
because that could lead to later collapses in the groves.  This  disorder continues 
to look like it may be communicable.  Add good bees to  bad, you've got a 
recipe for additional losses.  That experiment has been  conducted by several 
beekeepers -- in some cases yards recovered, but in about  50% of the cases, 
adding good bees to bad resulted in loss of both.
 
As per shortages of bees -- the meeting that we went to and conversations  
with beekeepers seem to indicate that there is NO SURPLUS of bees, nor is there  
a severe shortage in California, as of end of last week.  Most  beekeepers 
had placed their colonies and were meeting their  contract obligations.  There 
were reports of a few hundred unplaced  colonies here and there (as of last 
Thursday).  
 
However, there were rumors of growers who were waiting until the last  minute 
to get bargain prices on bees -- they may be in for a rude shock.   Prices 
aren't likely to drop, unless a new batch of bees gets delivered to CA --  and 
anyone needing large numbers of colonies may be hard pressed to find  them.  
 
Jerry
 
J.J. Bromenshenk
 

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