> In particular, they mention that migratory beekeeping practices are stressful to the bees. Pete, I feel that the word "stress" is often anthropomorphically projected upon bees, and often overused. The paper that we are referring to involved migratory beekeeping in Greece, a country which is far too small for long hauls to which you are now referring. > Even moving colonies short distances for pollination or honey production is well known to cause the bees to become upset I do both regularly, including a few moves this week. With proper technique, it appears that the bees barely notice that they've been moved, and begin foraging immediately, often returning with pollen loads before I have the truck completely unloaded. I'm not saying that long-haul, multiday trips are without stress, but I disagree with the sort of blanket statements used by the authors. , so moves taking days and over thousands of kilometres would be expected to be stressful on the bees, as well as on the beekeepers. > > >so one can suggest that a colony of bees being whipped across two or three > time zones in a quick move would be subject to some stress. > I've observed Aussie package bees shipped from summer to winter, with a half day jet lag, from hot to snow, shaken from their combs and given a new queen, get right to work as though nothing unusual happened! > > >That transport in and of itself causes colony death and the CCD Working > Group reports that 10% to 30% losses are “not uncommon” as a result of > moving colonies for pollination. > How would transport cause colony death? It may cause queen loss, or initiate a virus or nosema epidemic, but cause colony death? I doubt that many migratory beekeepers experiencing 30% losses remain migratory beekeepers for long. Randy Oliver *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm