Scott writes:
1. It is normal to have up to 100 feral colonies of bees per square mile of mixed forest and meadow. This translates to one feral colony/6 acres.
I think this may be the number of commercial colonies in a typical honey producing region. Oldroyd cites that number:
> If we assume 130 colonies are typically sited at each apiary, then the density of commercial colonies is expected to be around 40 colonies/km2 [100 per square mile]
Oldroyd, B. P., et al. "Population demography of Australian feral bees (Apis mellifera)." Oecologia 111.3 (1997): 381-387.
PLB
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html