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<DIV>This ezine is also available online at <A
title=http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-2009.05.19.10.29.archive.html
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT
face="Lucida Sans Unicode, Lucida Grande, sans-serif" color=#ff0000 size=7>CATCH
THE BUZZ</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><FONT
face="Lucida Sans Unicode, Lucida Grande, sans-serif" color=#0000ff>Preliminary
Results: A Survey of Honey Bee Colonies Losses in the <COUNTRY-REGION
w:st=""><PLACE w:st="">U.S.</PLACE></COUNTRY-REGION> Between September 2008 and
April 2009. </FONT></STRONG></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B>Prepared by:</B> Dennis
vanEngelsdorp<SUP>1</SUP>, Jerry Hayes<SUP>2</SUP>, and Jeff
Pettis<SUP>3</SUP>.</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><U>Note: </U><I>A more detailed final report is
being prepared for publication at a later date. </I></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and
USDA-ARS Beltsville Honey Bee Lab conducted a survey between September 2008 and
early April 2009 to estimate colony loses across the country. Over 20% of
the country’s estimated 2.3 million colonies were surveyed. A total loss of
28.6% of managed honey bee colonies was recorded. This compares to losses
of 35.8% and 31.8% recorded respectively in the winters of 2007/2008 and
2006/2007. While a decrease in total losses is encouraging, the rate of
loss remains unsustainable as the average operational loss increased from 31% in
2007/2008 to 34.2% in the 2008/2009 winter. </P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN>Find out what’s new at Mann <PLACE
w:st="">Lake</PLACE> <A title=http://www.mannlakeltd.com/catchthebuzzindex.html
href="http://www.mannlakeltd.com/catchthebuzzindex.html">www.mannlakeltd.com/catchthebuzzindex.html</A></SPAN></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is characterized
by the complete absence of bees in dead colonies or in apiaries. This
survey was not able to differentiate between verifiable cases of CCD and
colonies lost as the result of other causes that share the “absence of dead
bees” as a symptom. The 26% of operations that reported some of their
colonies died without dead bees lost 32% of their colonies, while beekeepers
that did not lose any bees with symptoms of CCD lost a total of 26% of their
colonies.</P>
<HR>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN>For a Comprehensive listing of Beekeeping
events around the country and around the world see <A
title=http://www.my.calendars.net/bee_culture/
href="http://www.my.calendars.net/bee_culture/"><FONT
color=#800080>www.my.calendars.net/bee_culture/</FONT></A></SPAN></P>
<P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN>To List YOUR event on our Beekeeping
Calendar, simple send your meeting notice to <A title=mailto:info@BeeCulture.com
href="mailto:info@BeeCulture.com"><FONT
color=#0000ff>info@BeeCulture.com</FONT></A></SPAN>
<HR>
Only 15% of all the colonies lost during the 2008/2009 winter died with symptoms
of CCD, this compares to a 60% colony loss with CCD-like symptoms in the winter
of 2007/2008. While losses from CCD may have decreased in the winter of
2008/2009, losses from other causes remain a significant concern. 58% of
all beekeepers reported above normal losses last year, losing a total of 32.8%
of their colonies compared to the minority of beekeepers who claimed a normal or
below normal loss of 17%.
<HR>
<SPAN>Subscribe to the Apis Newsletter <A title=http://www.apis.shorturl.com/
href="http://www.apis.shorturl.com/"><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.apis.shorturl.com</FONT></A></SPAN>
<HR>
These findings emphasize the urgent need for research, not only of CCD, but of
general honey bee health.
<P></P>
<P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN><SPAN>1.<SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN>Dennis vanEngelsdorp,. Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture/The
Pennsylvania State University; Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA), President <A
title=mailto:dennis.vanengelsdorp@gmail.com
href="mailto:dennis.vanengelsdorp@gmail.com"><FONT
color=#0000ff>dennis.vanengelsdorp@gmail.com</FONT></A> 717-497-1514</P>
<P> </P>
<P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN>2.<SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN>Jerry Hayes, Florida Department of Agriculture, Past President
AIA, hayesg@doacs.state.fl.us, 352 372-3505</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN>3.<SPAN
style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></SPAN>Jeff Pettis USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville,
MD, <A title=mailto:jeff.pettis@ars.usda.gov
href="mailto:jeff.pettis@ars.usda.gov"><FONT
color=#0000ff>jeff.pettis@ars.usda.gov</FONT></A>, 301 504-8205</P>
<HR>
This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping
<A title=http://www.beeculture.com/ href="http://www.beeculture.com/"><FONT
color=#800080>www.BeeCulture.com</FONT></A>. Proud supporter of EAS 2009 <A
title=http://www.easternapiculture.org/
href="http://www.easternapiculture.org/"><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.easternapiculture.org</FONT></A>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face="Gill Sans MT" size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>Laurie Davies Adams<BR>Executive
Director<BR><B>Pollinator Partnership </B><BR>423 Washington Street, 5th
floor<BR>San Francisco, CA
94111<BR>415-362-1137<BR>LDA@pollinator.org</FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial
color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#0000ff size=4 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="14"><B><A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></B></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"></B><BR><A
href="http://www.nappc.org/">www.nappc.org</A><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="12"><B><I>National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2009. <BR>Beecome
involved at <A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></I></FONT></B></DIV></FONT><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="2f8df9a4ee0600c2af0a14a6aa7241"><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/>Recession-proof vacation ideas. <a href="http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/domestic/national-tourism-week?ncid=emlcntustrav00000002">Find free things to do in the U.S.</a></font></DIV></BODY></HTML>