A large Calif/Dakota beekeeper gave a presentation last November. To
move from Calif to North Dakota and back, pay his crew, feed and
medicate, etc until colonies were back in Idaho for wintering, cost
him $71 per colony. His income from honey was $72 per colony. You do
the math.
He took 10,000 colonies to N.D., and brought only 8,000 live back to
Idaho. I talked to him two weeks ago as he was beginning to move to
Calif, but don't know what his winter losses were. This is a
top-knotch beekeeper with one of the cleanest operations I've seen.
Randy Oliver
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