FAO STATS ON WORLD BEEKEEPING



Since 1961 the reported global stock of commercial managed honey bee hives has increased by approximately 45 per cent. The number of bee hives in a particular country depends on a range of social and economic factors affecting the bee keeping industry in that country; Varroa is only one of these factors (vanEngelsdorp and Meixner, 2010).

Varroa had no perceptible effect on the number of hives reported in Europe. The number of honey bee hives in Europe declined sharply in the early 1990s, coinciding with the end of communism, and the end of state support for beekeepers, in the previously communist bloc countries of Eastern Europe (Moritz et al., 2010). The number of hives reported Western European countries remained unchanged over the same period of time.
 
Rising incomes in rural areas, a declining rural workforce and the need to treat for Varroa has led hobby beekeeping to become less popular in some European countries (Potts et al., 2010).

In the United States the number of managed hives has declined steadily since the late 1940s, around 40 years before Varroa established there. This decline reflects declining terms of trade for United States beekeepers as the result of competition with lower-cost honey producing countries in South America. In contrast, due to their competitive advantage, the number of hives in South America has grown steadily since the mid-1970s, despite Varroa already being established there. However, the J strain of V. destructor in South America is less damaging than the K strain of V. destructor in the United States.

SOURCE:
http://www.daff.gov.au/animal-plant-health/pests-diseases-weeds/bee_pests_and_diseases/honeybees-faqs

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