Hi all
My earliest mentor told me back in 1974:
"Even a poor beekeeper can do well in a good location, but even an excellent beekeeper will do poorly in a bad location." 

This is reinforced by Matthew Smart's Thesis, from which I have been quoting:

The most significant
predictors of health and survivorship across all three levels of analysis were all related to
nutrition - beginning with abundant flowers located overwhelmingly in uncultivated
lands. More and/or better forage led to greater honey production and pollen collection
which in turn led to greater nutritional stores in individual bees, and an overall decreased
immune response. The presence of quality and abundant forage surrounding summering
locations support healthy, robust, and most importantly, surviving, colonies of honey bees.


From my own point of view, I manage two apiaries in two different locations, about 13 miles apart. The survival rate at the outyard has been 2 or 3 times the survival rate at my home yard. The bees are managed about the same, following a typical low intensity plan (I don't try to micromanage the hives).

PLB

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