I was somewhat dismayed to find an article by a Florida beekeeper urging people to get into beekeeping. I feel that you might unknowingly be doing a disservice to them. Both hobbyist and commercial beekeepers are presently losing colonies in huge percentages to something called “Collapsing Colony Disease”. The Daytona Beach News Journal recently reported that local commercial beekeepers have lost up to 85% of their colonies. I have lost all five of mine, from healthy hives to completely empty in less than one week. Anyone expecting a good result from starting beekeeping under these conditions is doomed to disappointment. I feel that you owe it to your readers to point this out.

I am on the CCD Working Group and have been actively involved in the CCD situation from the beginning. 1. We need more honey bees/pollinators not fewer. 2. Since the causal factor of CCD has not been identified as yet, it is my personal opinion that it is probably the intersection of several sub-lethal negative events that are now becoming lethal. This could be varroa and tracheal mites and the viruses they vector, miticides that beekeepers may be using to control the mites, poor nutrition, antibiotics beekeepers overuse, environmental toxins that honey bees pick up in their 2 ½ mile foraging area, agricultural pesticides that are used extensively in agricultural settings, golf courses, people’s yards, etc., perhaps a new pathogen or an old pathogen that has become more pathogenic, a shallow genetic pool and then stress of commercial beekeeping, or who knows what else.

The point is that I do not know exactly what honey bee stress is, but it sure looks like the above may be it. If all the above factors affected you or I, could we accurately predict that we would get sick? CCD has not affected all beekeepers. We are trying to tease out the commonality of why some beekeepers and their colonies have problems and why some don’t.

All of the above does not signal the end of the beekeeping world. We know that honey bees have existed throughout the world for millennia and will continue to survive for millennia more. It seems that man is always involved in some aspect of their demise or survival. We will figure this out and continue to find ways to better nurture and protect the honey bee. This is a great time to become a hobby beekeeper because hobby beekeepers are not having this problem to near the extent that commercial beekeepers are. This is a scary bump in the road, not a dead end.


	The Classroom (cont.) by Jerry Hayes Please send your questions to Jerry Hayes, 17505 NW Hwy 335, Williston, FL 32696 Email: gwhayes54@yahoo.com

		Q There are Always Two Sides I was somewhat dismayed to find an article by a Florida beekeeper urging people to get into beekeeping. I feel that you might unknowingly be doing a disservice to them. Both hobbyist and commercial beekeepers are presently losing colonies in huge percentages to something called “Collapsing Colony Disease”. The Daytona Beach News Journal recently reported that local commercial beekeepers have lost up to 85% of their colonies. I have lost all five of mine, from healthy hives to completely empty in less than one week. Anyone expecting a good result from starting beekeeping under these conditions is doomed to disappointment. I feel that you owe it to your readers to point this out. John James A I am on the CCD Working Group and have been actively involved in the CCD situation from the beginning. 1. We need more honey bees/pollinators not fewer. 2. Since the causal factor of CCD has not been identified as yet, it is my personal opinion that it is probably the intersection of several sub-lethal negative events that are now becoming lethal. This could be varroa and tracheal mites and the viruses they vector, miticides that beekeepers may be using to control the mites, poor nutrition, antibiotics beekeepers overuse, environmental toxins that honey bees pick up in their 2 ½ mile foraging area, agricultural pesticides that are used extensively in agricultural settings, golf courses, people’s yards, etc., perhaps a new pathogen or an old pathogen that has become more pathogenic, a shallow genetic pool and then stress of commercial beekeeping, or who knows what else. The point is that I do not know exactly what honey bee stress is, but it sure looks like the above may be it. If all the above factors affected you or I, could we accurately predict that we would get sick? CCD has not affected all beekeepers. We are trying to tease out the commonality of why some beekeepers and their colonies have problems and why some don’t. All of the above does not signal the end of the beekeeping world. We know that honey bees have existed throughout the world for millennia and will continue to survive for millennia more. It seems that man is always involved in some aspect of their demise or survival. We will figure this out and continue to find ways to better nurture and protect the honey bee. This is a great time to become a hobby beekeeper because hobby beekeepers are not having this problem to near the extent that commercial beekeepers are. This is a scary bump in the road, not a dead end.

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