It is hard to discuss the math without enough numbers to make an equation.  The following isn't enough data.

>· 125,000 beekeepers--located in every state 
>· 3.03 million colonies--operated by owners of five or more colonies 
>· Typical commercial operation--1500-2500 colonies 
>· About 600 beekeepers operate 1,000 or more colonies each; as a group these produce 75% of the U.S. honey crop 

I don't have current numbers handy, but when I did the math out (it was a few years ago), I think it worked out pretty close to 99% of bees belonged to the 1% of beekeepers who were 'commercial'.  Somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 of the bees in the country were going to the almonds.  I'm certainly open to this being inaccurate or out of date.

>Why is it necessary to establish blame?

Perhaps I was misreading the other posts in this thread...it seemed to me that new 'neo-hippie beekeepers' from both the left and  right coast were being characterized as losing the colonies they purchased every year because of how they manage (or don't manage) their bees.  The losses of these colonies was being blamed on the beekeepers.

>Historical records show that beekeepers have lost very high percentages of bees over the years. The reasons for this vary and include pests, pathogens, pesticides, severe weather, land use changes, to name a few

Those are all excellent points (and far from comprehensive).  What I'm wondering (and the reason for my post) is why _some_ of the experts on Bee-L are quick to blame beekeeper practices and dismiss the common and well known causes of problems when the ratio of body hair/mass of the beekeeper exceeds some arbitrary threshold (adjusted for gender, of course)?

deknow

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