Brendhan,
Thank you.
I'll select the first item to throw in my thoughts. "Few or no bees in or around the colonies"
I have serious problems with that. Much of the noted CCD has been observed in the southern states where bees have ample opportunity to leave the hive if they are sick. Yes, bees if they can, will abandon their hives.
CCD is also a fall event for the most part. And in colder areas of the north, we may very well be seeing CCD, but beekeepers inspecting after the colony dies (finished off by freezing) may see dead bees on the bottom board, etc., as bees did not leave the hive due to cold temps. So it is dismissed as NOT CCD because bees are found in great numbers in the hive.
I think making a blanket statement, that CCD has signs such as no bees in the hives, a little misleading, and wrong.
And I also do not buy into the whole "not robbed out" comments. I have many dead hives that are not robbed out due to a whole host of things. If you have been paying attention from day one, they initially said bees would not rob for weeks. And now that timeframe has been widdled down to a "few days". I stated from day one, that robbing may not of been seen in these yards due to a flow, not any healthy colonies to care about robbing, etc. There are times I can put out a frame of honey in my healthy yards and bees will ignore it for days. Now I see "If robbed, it is delayed for a number of days".
Anyways....I know these are not your statements. The way things were quickly placed on a list and cast in stone, then repeated so often that it is mere fact, simply changes over time. And for some beekeepers such as in the north, I state they may very well have CCD but not have the signs so outlined by others, then dismissed.
I do think the first guy in the original post has pesticide issues. But since half of all beekeepers think CCD is chemical related...i guess saying he has CCD is not that far off... :-D