Reading the press with regard to bee health issues you might imagine stocks in Europe have seriously declined but this does not appear to be the case.
Agricultural Policies Exacerbate Honeybee Pollination Service Supply-Demand Mismatches Across Europe
Tom D. Breeze et al
January 08, 2014
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0082996
Total Stocks, Area and Demand Total honeybee stocks across the 41 countries rose by 7% between 2005 and 2010 from 22.5 M colonies to 24.1 M colonies, with stronger increases in southern European countries where beekeeping is more common (Figure 1a). Although national stocks more than doubled in Georgia, Denmark and Malta, 15 countries experienced declines of between 4% (Slovenia) and 47% (Switzerland). In both years ,45% of European honeybee stocks were located across Turkey, Ukraine and Spain. Overall area of crops pollinated by honeybees increased by 17% from 23.1 M ha to 27.1 M ha; 2.2 times the rate of honeybee stock increases in the same period.
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