[mmanager]

If true, this would be a crisis.

[dinasour]

If true, this would be a crisis.

Really? I've only heard of this in passing.

Another media push-crisis?

How long before they declare this as proof of Global Warming?

Or perhaps, AIDS is migrating to bees. If only Ronald Reagan had...

[Redcloak]

Our colony eez muy bueno.

[GBA]

Global warming, no doubt about it. (It would be a very serious crisis if true)

[digger48]

I know a guy who lost a most of his this winter.

Just found em dead in the hives

[xcamel]

see also:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791756/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1787184/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1783102/posts

[upchuck]

It's that damn DDT.

When will we ever learn?

[ArtyFO]

Consider the source, CNN. I won't believe it until the Weather Channel reports it.

[Clara Lou]

I have a patch of wildflowers [pink evening primrose] in full bloom beginning yesterday. Today I saw no honey bees. [Last year there were hundreds of bees coming and going.] I'm hoping that maybe the flowers, having just opened yesterday, haven't been discovered yet--it was cloudy today, so maybe the bees weren't out.
I did have loads of bumblebees at my wisteria vine this past week.

[Paperdoll]

They say the disappearance of the honey bees is because of incecticides. I think the mercury and arsenic found in some of those jet (chem) trails may have something to do with it, too. 30 years ago few children suffered so many allergies and asthma. Today a great many of them do. Even older adults complain of respitory problems unrelated to heart or obesity today. The honey bees pollination is imperative for fruit and flower harvest. I hope they discover the cause of the disappearance soon.

[ArtyFO]

They froze to death, global warming, you know.

[SmoothTalker]

I've heard this from some folks I know who keep bees. Either they have lost a lot or others they know have. The bee community is buzzing about this I guess you could say! Worrisome.

[doodad]

Very true and very troubling. No clues yet as to the source of the problem. This decline has been happening for years and is now epidemic. I am no entymologist, but it seems to coincide with the africanized bee scare.

[Mom MD]

I've got a bumper crop of wasps in and around my house. Hate the things. Is there any way we could trade them for bees? (Or can we take whatever is killing the bees and give it to the wasps?) Got stung in my bedroom at 6:30 in the morning last fall, and I am still on the warpath

[Imnidiot]

That &^$% BUSH did it!
Bush lied, bee's died

[Knitting A Conundrum]

From the Mid Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium

(MAAREC, established in 1997, is a regional group focused on addressing the pest management crisis facing the beekeeping industry in the Mid-Atlantic Region. A task force has been established with representation from the departments of agriculture, state beekeeping organizations, and land-grant universities from each of the following states: New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Also participating in the task force is a representative of the USDA/ARS (Beltsville Bee Lab, MD).)

http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/ColonyCollapseDisorder.html

Colony Collapse Disorder

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the name that has been given to the latest, and what seems to be the most serious, die-off of honey bee colonies across the country. It is characterized by, sudden colony death with a lack of adult bees in/in front of the dead-outs. Honey and bee bread are usually present and there is often evidence of recent brood rearing. In some cases, the queen and a small number of survivor bees may be present in the brood nest. It is also characterized by delayed robbing and slower than normal invasion by common pests such as wax moth and small hive beetles.

New! Summary of Research on the Non-target Effects of Bt Corn Pollen on Honeybees (3/28/2007)

CCD Working Group Summary of Purpose and Responsibility
 
Fall Dwindle Disease (Now renamed Colony Collapse Disorder) Preliminary Report

Map of U.S. States Reporting Colony Collapse Disorder

New! CCD Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (3/2007)

New! Tentative Recommendations for Hives Experiencing CCD (3/9/2007)

Fall Dwindle Disease talk - Austin, Texas (2/07)

CCD Podcast: listen online by selecting "Browse all of Honey Bees in Crisis", and then click on "Colony Collapse Disorder". Or subscribe to the RSS feed for iTunes.

How beekeepers can help:

Complete the survey found at www.beesurvey.com

Colony Collapse Disorder Press Release (1/30/2007)

[stylecouncilor]

ping

[FateAmenableToChange]

We lost 100% this winter. Of course, it's only 3, but the landowner also lost 3 of 4 hives. Prices are up substantially for new bees.

[Semi Civil Servant]

Bees must pollinate about a third of the fruits and vegetables humans eat. No bees, no crops.

The enviro-wackos have cried "Wolf" over nothing so many times, a whole lot of people take this story with a grain of salt.

Unfortunately, this appears to be the real deal. And nobody seems to know what's causing the die-offs.

[OpusatFR]

They are important, yes, but plants are pollinated by more than bees.

There are also very strong hives of Africanized honeybees showing increasing spread. (Despite all the hysteria.) They produce great quantities of honey, too.

I've noticed the honeybees in our area are quite healthy and increasing as of last year after a decrease in the population.

You can help by planting open-pollinator cultivars and by planting flowers in red/pink hues that bees prefer.

Another thing is to keep your use of pesticides down. I don't use any unless I have a severe infestation, but fortunately I've been able to take care of it before that point is reached.

[RunningWolf]

I have picked up on this over the last few years, well before it was on the radar screen of awareness, although I am sure the Bee-Keepers had to see it also.

It is real. Just keep your eyes open in the next few weeks, and you will see what I have noticed for the last 3 years.