[ExI] Nothing to worry about?

[spike]

>... On Behalf Of BillK
...


This year's article from beekeepers appears to provide an opposite view.
<https://beeinformed.org/2016/05/10/nations-beekeepers-lost-44-percent-of-bees-in-2015-16/>
Quote: Nation’s Beekeepers Lost 44 Percent of Bees in 2015-16 May 10, 2016 • Blog

Summer losses rival winter losses for the second year running

>...Beekeepers across the United States lost 44 percent of their honey bee colonies during the year spanning April 2015 to April 2016, according to the latest preliminary results of an annual nationwide survey.  Rates of both winter loss and summer loss—and consequently, total annual losses—worsened compared with last year. ...BillK

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Ja, that has the ring of truth.  Bees love summer; they should be thriving while the kids are out of school.  Plenty of food everywhere, lots of work to do, nice weather, lots of unwary proles to sting etc.

The previous article measured the number of commercial hives, but consider an important point.  A long time ago, such as the 1970s, the available hives and the available orchards matched approximately.  The grove guy and the bee guy loved each other, for they were mutually dependent for profit, but I don't recall there was any renting of hives or renting of orchards.  Now there is: the scales have tipped in favor of the beekeeper.  Now she might make her living renting her hives, and never mind extracting the honey, even at today's absurd prices.  (I am not complaining on this latter, for I am one who thinks we shouldn't be extracting the stuff anyway, so if you eat honey, stop that forthwith, use syrup or jam instead.)

But beekeepers now make their living by renting their hives (and in some cases by smuggling people and dope.)  Clearly it is to the beekeepers' advantage to set up and start new hives, even if they don't really have enough bees.  A hundred bucks gets you everything you need to go in one, including a good varroa mite resistant Australian queen (mate.)  If you get a 50 bucks a year rent per super and get paid up front, that is an excellent investment even if your bees perish.

spike