Members Jake Mixon

5 days ago: Thank you Blogbot.

Nov 10 2009: Hello J,

Beekeepers have been using this bleached foundation to start comb for almost a century now. It is perhaps too old a practice to be the cause of this particular disorder.

Nov 10 2009: To start the comb found in almost all hives in the United States, we use a prefabricated, thin sheet with the honeycomb pattern pressed into it. From this thin sheet, bees "draw out" the comb untill the walls of the honeycomb pattern are tall enough to store honey and pollen, and to raise brood in.

This wax sheet is called "foundation" and it is often sterilized one way or another before it is ever put into a beehive. This is done to prevent wax-carried pathogens.

It is possible to start comb within a frame without using foundation, but because it takes more time, requires more calories, and does not always follow a regular pattern, most beekeepers do not do it.

Sue,
Bees use the sun to navigate, so it is difficult for me to understand how cell phones would cause CCD symptoms.
Bees communicate using visual cues, scents, and audible(often very loud) sounds. Again, it is hard for me to believe that cell phones can inhibit these behaviors.

Nov 10 2009: It's true. We do use a great deal of supplemental feeding. But many of us are stupid, and I am concerned about a beehive's loss of antibacterial activity caused by the lack of honey. I am not against collecting it, just concerned about the amount that we collect.

It is possible that CCD is a meeting of an Australian pathogen (bee imports form Australia started at the same time as CCD) and the Varroa destructor mite (not yet present in Australia)

Nov 10 2009: Fortunately, Clorox (not just a bleach company by any stretch of the imagination) gave Burt's Bees a great deal of autonomy and free reign with their product.