For Collin County commercial beekeeper John Talbert, the mysterious malady that is killing off bees means he’s keeping his hives close to home.

"It’s like people and the swine flu: The more people you get together in one spot, the higher probability you’re going to have a health problem," said Talbert, who lives near Josephine in southeastern Collin County. "I don’t move them around and keep them isolated."

But here and abroad, many other beekeepers haven’t been as fortunate.

Last winter, 29 percent of U.S. hives were lost to the mysterious phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder, according to a survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the U.S. Agriculture Department. The disorder was first noticed in 2005.

Colony collapse disorder has a variety of suspected causes: pesticides, varroa mites, viruses, stress from shipping hives long distances to pollinate crops — or some combination. Colony collapse disorder typically affects commercial hives and generally not those kept by hobbyists.

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