Are you
> aware of any such reports from the grower industry groups; e,g. almond
> growers association newsletter reports?
As far as almonds are concerned I am sure the shortage has been discussed in
their newsletters as it has been at the spring meetings. 2010 and one other
year of the last five there was a big shortage. Both those years the problem
was directly related to industry hive health.
As far as apples & cherries I would guess there are enough numbers of hives
for pollination ( after almonds and huge numbers of hives in the area) as
each year many of the larger growers go out of business because of
competition from foreign cherries & apples is too great so those industries
are contracting instead of expanding like almonds. A recent documentary
airing documents one large growers downsizing to agritourism to survive in
Washington State apple business.
bob
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