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SummaryThis study records the fifth consecutive year that winter losses of managed honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in the USA have been around 30%. In April 2011, a total of 5,441 US beekeepers (an estimated 11% of total US beekeepers) responded to a survey conducted by the Bee Informed Partnership. Survey respondents reported that they had lost an average of 38.4% of their colonies, for a total US colony loss of 29.9% over the winter of 2010-11. One-third of respondents (all classified as backyard beekeepers, i.e. keeping fewer than 50 colonies) reported no winter loss. There was considerable variation in both the average and total loss by state. On average, beekeepers consider acceptable losses to be 13.2%, but 68% of all responding beekeepers suffered actual losses in excess of what they considered acceptable. Of beekeepers who reported losing at least one colony, manageable conditions, such as starvation and a weak condition in the fall, were the leading self-identified causes of mortality. Respondents who indicated that varroa mites (Varroa destructor), small hive beetles (Aethina tumida), poor wintering conditions, and / or Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) conditions were a leading cause of mortality in their operations suffered a higher average loss than beekeepers who did not list any of these as potential causes. In a separate question, beekeepers who reported the symptom "no dead bees in hive or apiary" had significantly higher losses than those who did not report this symptom. In addition, commercial beekeepers were significantly more likely to indicate that colonies died with this symptom than either backyard or sideliner beekeepers. Journal of Apicultural Research51(1): 115-124 (2012) © IBRA 2012 DOI 10.3896/IBRA.1.51.1.14 116 vanEngelsdorp et al. Una encuesta nacional sobre las pérdidas invernales de colonias manejadas de abejas melíferas 2010-11 en losEstados Unidos: resultados de la Bee Informed Partnership ResumenEste estudio registra por quinto año consecutivo que las pérdidas invernales de abejas manejadas (Apis mellifera) en Estados Unidos están en torno al 30%. En abril del 2011, un total de 5,441 apicultores de los EE.UU. (se estima que el 11% del total de apicultores de EE.UU.) respondieron a una encuesta realizada por la Bee Informed Partnership. Los encuestados indicaron que habían perdido un promedio de 38.4% de sus colonias, con una pérdida total de colonias en EE.UU. del 29.9% durante el invierno de 2010-11. Un tercio de los encuestados (todos ellos clasificados como apicultores aficionados, es decir, con menos de 50 colonias) indicaron que no tuvieron pérdidas de invierno.Hubo una variación considerable tanto en la media como en el total de pérdidas por Estado. Por término medio, los apicultores consideran aceptables pérdidas del 13.2%, sin embargo, el 68% de todos los apicultores encuestados sufrieron pérdidas reales superiores a lo que consideran aceptable. Entre los apicultores que informaron de la pérdida de al menos una colonia, las principales causas de mortalidad identificad...

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Five independent objective measures of overall organization performance were examined as correlates of four perceived communication variables among 12 district organizations within a federally funded social services system in an eastern state. Subjects included 457 employees in three major job categories (administrators, service providers, and clerical workers), 60% of whom were women. Results indicated that two perceived communication variables, the quality of supervisory communication and information exchange within the peer workgroup, were strongly related to critical revenue and workload measures of overall organization performance.Managers and researchers apparently agree that communication processes underlie most aspects of organization functioning and are critical to organizational effectiveness. Nonetheless, studies of communication in work organizations are grossly underrepresented in the empirical research literature (O' Reilly & Pondy, 1979). Although many aspects of organizational communication have failed to receive the attention of researchers, the comprehensive review by Porter and Roberts (1976) concluded that the major omission in this area concerned studies of how communication relates to overall performance at the individual and organization levels of analysis.Since the time of the Porter and Roberts review, there have been two basic types of communication studies published: (a) studies that investigated the relationships between communication phenomena and perceived organizational outcomes (e.g., Hatfield & Huseman, 1982; Muchinsky, 1977; O'Reilly & Roberts, 1977) and (b) studies that examined the relationships between communication characteristics and independent measures of performance at the individual level of analysis (e.g.,

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