> Many of us beleive that the true percentage 
> of hives lost nationally to CCD was 2-5%.

I haven't heard "many" people express this view,
but a few persist in making the claim despite being 
firmly and repeatedly contradicted by the people who 
have actual feet on the ground doing things like 
counting CCD deadouts, tallying the confidential
survey responses, and so on.

> CCD that was possibly nothing more then a flash in the pan. 

If it was a "flash in the pan", then prepare to move from
frying pan to fire.  It helps to read the papers, take a 
few phone calls from one's collogues in the business,
read one's e-mail, and so on:
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/10/25/BEES26_COX.html

Apparently, they're baaaack.
http://wavcentral.com/cgi-bin/log/log.cgi?id=4754&sound=/sounds/movies/p
oltergeist/pg2back.mp3


> Who cares about CCD that hardly affected that many hives.

Everyone who is not whistling past the graveyard, blaming "management
practices" while hoping that virtue and clean living will protect them
from the problem, which appears to be everyone except a tiny but vocal
group of people who seem to want to deny science itself.  

> important issues in Ag and beekeeping, like over working the bees 

I'm not exactly sure how one can "overwork" an insect that works
when it pleases and rests when it pleases, but maybe some developed
a very tiny little time clock?  Perhaps the bees need a union?
(If so, they should join the I-Bee-E-W!)

> and pesticide usage. 

Well, while pesticides aren't off the table any more now that a
certain virus seems much less compellingly associated with
much of anything, it must be pointed out that work done so far
has found nothing more than one would expect - tiny low-level
traces of everything one could think of, but nothing that
looks like a good suspect to associate with CCD. 

> if we keep allowing free for all mass movement with no plan 
> for quarantine in the event we really did have a deadly pathogen. 

That's an issue that has been discussed many times here on Bee-L,
but, just for entertainment value, below is the complete list 
of agricultural quarantine efforts that have ever succeeded:

None

> Nothing in place to stop the quick spread of deadly disease 
> via migratory beekeeping. 

Funny you should mention - are you aware of how many NON-migratory
operations, well off the usual migratory routes have been hit by CCD?

Also, what should we do about all the packages and queens being shipped 
hither and yon within the US, many to brand-new beekeepers with shiny 
new smokers who wouldn't know a varroa mite from a small hive beetle 
from a drone bee?  Guess we'll have to just tell them to close up shop.

And what about swarms?  They worked pretty well to expand Africanized
Bees all the way from South America through Central America, and into
the US?  Guess we'll have to eliminate swarming completely.


> most bee related problems are essentially a result of bee movement by
humans.

Across oceans, yes.

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