>
> > during WW II when honey bee colonies were near 6M, a great diversity of
> agg/native plants, fewer designer crops, and fewer pesticides/herbicides
> vs. now


Scott, you raise a very interesting question!  Just how did pollinators do
during those heyday years when there were twice as many colonies, but far
greater expanses of natural grasslands, clover, etc

According to this chart
<https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2012/march/data-feature-how-is-land-used/>,
the amount of cropland, pasture, and range has not changed over time.
However, as you say, before no till and Roundup, there were far more weedy
pollinator-attractive plants, more cover cropping, and vast areas of sweet
clover, which was used as a nitrogen-fixing cover crop.  Anyone please
correct me, but it would appear that there was far more bee forage back in
the 1940s.

So one might expect, especially with the high demand for honey, that
beekeepers in the 1940s would have managed their hives for maximum honey
production.  So it occurred to me to compare average honey yields,
according to NASS statistics.  I already had put yields from 1990-on into a
spreadsheet, so this morning I entered values for the 1940s.

From 1941-1950 average honey yield was 39 lbs/hive, compared to our recent
average of around 62 lbs.  This surprised me.

The above figures, coupled with the frequently-heard reports that there is
less bee forage these days, strongly suggest that bees were under strong
competition for resources back in the 1940s.  That suggests that due to the
high managed bee population, that other pollinators may have been affected
by competition from honey bees.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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