[civilian]

Ahh, I don't think so. The _rate_ of CCD has decreased since last year. If we were "splitting up stronger hives into weaker hives", shouldn't CCD have stayed the same or increased?

> The number of hives lost to Colony Collapse Disorder, a phenomenon of disappearing bees that has raised concerns among farmers and scientists for a decade, was 84,430 in this year’s first quarter, down 27 percent from a year earlier. Year-over-year losses declined by the same percentage in April through June, the most recent data in the survey.

//edit: but idk, maybe I'm confused here too. At the very least, we've figured out a way to breed bees quickly so that we can outpace CCD?

[_rpd]

Colony Collapse Disorder is roughly defined as unexpected colony death over winter. A previous base rate of 10% colony loss increased to 15-25% colony loss during different years. There are lots of theories about why, but note that wild swarm mortality during winter is over 80%. CCD is a problem in domestic hives, and may very well be a consequence of some aspect of modern beekeeping practices.

[PhasmaFelis]

This is the chance of an entirely colony dying out, right, not just the per-capita mortality rate?

[jly]

Yes, per-capita rates are tricky with honeybees since they adjust their hive numbers significantly during the year and slim down for winter and potential summer nectar dearth.

Measuring colony survival is what is really important.

[pyre]

The percentage of colonies that don't survive the winter.