Peter, I agree with your closing comment that a wait-and-see approach will be best.  But your preceding comment that "the last thing we need right now is a lot of beekeepers saying that the thing is a hoax" seems to imply that it's somehow worse to be a naysayer (and be later proven wrong) than to have cried wolf (and been wrong).

There are many media stories about a "mass disappearance" but from what I can tell, they all trace back to a few anecdotes with no supporting statistical evidence.  The limited numbers I've seen so far indicate the opposite - that winter losses so far look to be quite typical especially given the weather last summer and fall (and thus, given the state of winter stores).

I'm not ready to call it a hoax but if I'm going to be wrong, I'd rather be labeled skeptical than gullible.

Mike Rossander

 
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