////Some claim that the disappearances have not been reported from organic beekeepers, suggesting to some that beekeeping practices can be a primary factor./////

Rudolf Steiner, who founded the Anthroposophic Society, lectured back in 1923 that our methods animal husbandry with bees will start to destroy them and that in 60 years or so, we would notice the effects quite dramatically. He was dead on yet beekeepers back then said he was crazy.

////My local beekeeper has been managing to keep most problems in check - this year, for the first time ever, he had some problems with beetles getting into the hives.////

Yes, beetles get in, moths, mice, wasps, other bees. What's eerie odd to me though is that hive that falls victim to CCD is deserted overnight--most of the bees gone and no one knows where. Like they fly off the face of the earth. They leave the queen behind which is unheard of but no dead bees litter the hive. Oddest of all, no other animal will touch the honey in a CCD hive despite its looking perfectly fine and robust. Other animals and insects will avoid the hive. In any other case that honey would be raided in no time flat. Somehow, they know something is wrong with that hive. Weird.