Interesting discussion. Some points:
Figures for feral colonies are typically for much smaller colonies than in
managed hives, so we'd need to divide the feral density by a factor of
perhaps 3 or 4 to account for the differences in colony population sizes.
We must also consider local climate. Carrying capacity may be limited not
so much by the honeyflow, but rather the amount of forage available the
rest of the season. The available late-summer and fall forage available in
many areas in the East that I've visited would make a California beekeeper
drool with envy.
At the extreme let's look at an almond orchard (I question Jim's use of
tree volume, as in any crop, the amount of leaf surface (or bloom) is
limited by the number of photons hitting each square cm of land surface
area, not by the volume of plant structure). In any case, even with this
extreme bloom, at stocking rates of more than 3 colonies/acre (1280 per sq
mi), colonies typically lose weight even during the approx 3-week bloom.
And then there is zero for the other 49 weeks of the year.
Since few plants bloom for more than a month, perhaps we can estimate by
division. 3 colonies/acre * 3/52 equals roughly 6 acres needed per hive
for year-round maintenance. But this figure assumes that every square foot
of land would have a bee-attractive flowering plant, and would not allow
for the space taken by grasses, rock, asphalt, water, or non bee-attractive
forbs, shrubs, or trees. So Pete's calculation of 60 acres per colony is
likely close to the mark in areas with summer moisture. Even more acreage
may be required in dry-summer areas.
--
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com
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