>> But the ongoing conversion of >> working capital into bees to >> compensate for losses is not >> really an increase in the number >> of colonies, is it? > Its been the standard > business model for well over 20 > years, if not closer to 100. Certainly for 20, as varroa has been a serious problem for the last 20 years, and a few years before that, we had tracheal mites. But not for 100 years. 100 years ago, the only problem was foulbrood. Swarms were plentiful, and easy to catch and hive to build up one's colony count. > Honest truth is if we Didn't have > these losses we would be totally > overrun with bees, doubling every year..... This was precisely what was happening prior to the invasive species that turned beekeeping from a bucolic idyl into an ongoing "Battlebots" competition. As recently as the 1970s, beekeepers would openly moan about the problem of "too many bees". But this abruptly stopped in the mid 1980s - it got so bad, feral hives died out to the point where I was single-handedly attempting revive the art of bee-lining in the mid 2000s. The 1960s and 1970s beekeepers were the ones who taught us, but they were completely unprepared for the intensive management and record-keeping required to keep bees alive in an age of exotic pathogens and pests. None of them owned a microscope, and the idea of putting ANYTHING into a beehive, let alone a pesticide, was alien to them. Suddenly beeyards had become like the stables - there is always a need for a vet visit to see about one thing or another, as it is a rare day when all the horses are fine. *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html