As has already been said, this "phenomenon" (if indeed it is one and not an arbitrary variety of adverse reactions) cannot be labelled as yet with any one cause. There is not enough data available at the moment to crystalise out responsible factors. Whilst bee losses, especially winter losses are nothing new to beekeeping, the apparent increase in high levels of loss in North America and in Europe especially over the past few years indicates a common growing situation affecting our bees internationally. If, and I do say if, this is true, the factors affecting colony collapse disorder may differ from country to country; it's not possible to incontrovertibly link colony death in say, Poland with Spain and the USA. The only common factor known so far is that many bee colonies have died. Thorough examination and analysis of affected colonies is needed. As more information becomes available in the form of feedback from beekeepers in all regions, then it may be more likely that the people assimilating the data, for whom I have great regard, will be able to determine the most probable causes. It's not easy getting information, asking people to fill in forms detailing what they did, when they did it and why. What were the conditions like at the time? - not everyone remembers or keeps a log book. Some don't want to give out information they regard as "personal". But unless relevant information can be reliably gathered - and a lot of it - we are going to have conjecture and everyone's pet theories for years to come and bees may continue to die off. Organised groups investigating these bee deaths are taking shape in Europe and in North America and they deserve the help and broad support of beekeepers everywhere in finding a solution to this problem. Max Dr Max Watkins Director Vita (Europe) Limited 21/23 Wote Street Basingstoke Hampshire RG21 7NE UK Tel.: +44 (0)1256 473 177 Fax: +44 (0)1256 473 179 Mobile: +44 (0) 7767 815 370 e-mail: [log in to unmask] web: http://www.vita-europe.com Skype: maxwatkins Search the archives often at http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?S1=bee-l