The new report out on 2009-2010 colony losses has some interesting observations:
Sideliner and hobby beekeepers rank the causes of their bee losses as 1) starvation; 2) weather; 3) "weak in fall"; 4) mites; and 5) queen.
Commercial beekeepers rank the causes of their bee losses as 1) queens; 2) mites; 3) pesticides; 4) CCD; 5) starvation.
Nosema was ranked number 6 in all categories.
Reported losses among these groups were: Sideliners lost 45%; hobby beekeepers lost 50%; commercial beekeepers reported losing about 33%.
Journal of Apicultural Research 50(1): 1-10 (2011)
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