Monday, October 08, 2007 — Time:9:47:29 PM CENTRAL Johnson: Honeybee disorder did not affect North Dakota bees http://www.minotdailynews.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=14972 "A mysterious disappearance of millions of honeybees in the United States has largely bypassed North Dakota, according to the state’s agriculture commissioner. Roger Johnson said field inspectors across the state this year have had only a few, unconfirmed reports of the colony collapse disorder that has caused so much trouble elsewhere in the country" AND Next Door Here In MN....... After the alarm, just a healthy buzz BY TOM WEBB Pioneer Press Article Launched: 10/03/2007 12:01:00 AM CDT http://www.twincities.com//ci_7065928 "When last we heard from honeybees, the buzz was bad. A new ailment had emerged over the winter, causing bee colonies to mysteriously flee, and fueling scary stories about the vanishing honeybee - and the threat to crops that depend on bees for pollination. But Minnesota's honeybees are still here. In fact, most honeybees thrived this summer, state beekeepers report. Minnesota's crops were richly pollinated. Apples, berries and pumpkins are abundant. There's even plenty of honey here in America's No. 5 honey-producing state. To be sure, Colony Collapse Disorder remains a real worry. But for now, state bee experts can't identify a confirmed case of it here this summer. "A lot of beekeepers lose colonies, but it could be a lot of things ... but the Colony Collapse specifically, I have not heard at all, no," said Katie Klett, a University of Minnesota bee specialist. "Drought was the biggest problem I heard about this year." Dan Pasche is the state apiary inspector for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. If the syndrome were spreading through Minnesota this summer, he'd probably have seen it. "I'm not aware of any this summer," he said. "There was at least one beekeeper who talked about some losses last year in his bees ... but they appear to have recovered pretty well over the summer." ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************