> 1978 was a long time ago. The above seem high numbers for me for researcher  colonies. In commercial circles today 80,000 is not unreasonable for hives kept in at  least two deeps and managed.

Well, the difference is mainly they counted them and you guessed. But seriously Bob, if anything strong colonies are harder to find now than in the past. I kept bees in the seventies and 300 pound averages were not uncommon, where you had good bees and good conditions. Farrar spoke of colonies maxing out at 60,000 back in the 1940s. You will have hard time selling the idea that colonies are stronger now than in decades past. Particularly with no data. And I simply do not buy your whole argument that "researchers" somehow don't know beans about bees. Many of them come from commercial backgrounds. Further, many of them get out and about quite a bit and get to see a lot more variety than you or I. As a matter of fact, bee inspectors get to see more of the range than anyone. 

PLB

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