Topic: bees, colony collapse disorder, pesticide use, U.S.film.

[tonybloke]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3atwk_nature-silence-of-the-bees-online-e_shortfilms
anyone else seen this?

[Robert_Brenchley]

Good film. I noticed one of our top experts contributing, and what looked like a native British bee, so it's not purely a US film. It doesn't mention CCD, but that's a US problem anyway.

[tonybloke]

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/silence-of-the-bees/video-full-episode/251/
sorry robert, this link has the full story, including possible answers to CCD, a virus from australia?

[Melbourne12]

I've just finished reading "A World Without Bees" http://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Without-Bees-Alison-Benjamin/dp/0852650922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230728120&sr=8-1

It's a comprehensive and very up-to-date (seems to be around April 2008) survey of the possible causes of CCD, and indeed earlier bee "disappearances" including Isle of Wight Disease.

Alison Benjamin comes to no clear conclusion, since there's no single smoking gun piece of evidence, but it's a fascinating read.

[Robert_Brenchley]

CCD is probably a combination of factors, not a simple virus, though they probably contribute. I'll look at the video in a bit.

[chriscross1966]

The appalling treatment of US industrial bees probably doesn't help.....

[Robert_Brenchley]

That's rather what I think. If you have hundreds of colonies all together in the same place, that creates perfect conditions for the spread of disease, quite apart from other factors.