ScienceDaily (May 12, 2008) — The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Apiary Inspectors of America have conducted a combined survey of beekeepers to get a snapshot of how well managed colonies made it through the winter of 2007-08.
Surveyed beekeepers reported a total loss of about 36.1 percent of their honey bee colonies, up about 13.5 percent from the previous winter. Losses attributed to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) appear to be about the same, with just over one-third (36 percent) of the operations reporting some lost colonies in which all adult bees disappeared, a primary symptom of CCD, according to Jeff Pettis, research leader of the ARS Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Md.
The combined survey, which was conducted by telephone interview, checked on nearly 19 percent of the country's 2.44 million colonies.
ARS is continuing to vigorously seek the cause or causes of CCD.