As a beekeeper (brixton, london) can i just say that this year is bad
for some, not so bad for others. As someone said, the varroa mite has
been here for a while, and most beekeepers use a number of strategies
to manage it.

Possibly more troubling is that the recent run of hot, dry summers has
encouraged many beekeepers, (including me) to favour the yellowish
italian honeybee (apis mellifera ligustica) over the british black bee
(apis mellifera mellifera). the aml bees do fine when the weather's
good, but when you've had a june like the past one, the queens at least
just sit inside, unlike their amm counterparts ( now probably only
existing around the galtee mountains in ireland) who are used to
struggling out to gather nectar, pollinate, and make passionate love
even in irish weather.

Colony collapse disorder is generally held to be an american
phenomenon. there are reports of it here but a lot of people have
doubts. Bee colonies die, from time to time, and they always have done.
Americans move bees all over the country, all the time, which is asking
for stressed bees and sudden, violent, rampant infections.

So all in all , bees are like plants - some years good, some years bad,
some years VERY bad.... but in the end a stronger group will probably
pull through.

Lazarus