Hi Bob and Pete,

Lots of trucks of bees coming in on I-80.  Inspectors turned 20 trucks back
a few days ago--bugs, weeds, ants, SHB.  Don't come on a Friday afternoon!

Lots of bees signed at much higher prices than Bob cites.  My feeling is
that it is not time to be cutting each other's throats yet.

I haven't heard about the SoCal collapses, but have heard about a lot of
others.  Mites are eating many out of state outfits alive!  Some outfits
have uncomfortably high nosema levels.  Some outfits currently have 3-frame
average (that's "California grading").  One large broker is predicting that
there will be a shortage like three years ago.

A lot of out of state operations have hungry bees, due to poor weather.
They are dumping feed into them in Calif, hoping for a miracle turnaround.
Unfortunately, our Indian summer looks like it has had its turn, and the
weather is going colder.  It was actually warmer yesterday when I was in
Minneapolis than it was when I returned home to California!

We hear these horror stories every fall--the worst is generally yet to
come.  There is always a vast silent majority of beekeepers who quietly move
in with decent bees.  It is so dang hard to project what the actual supply
will be, since it is like asking poker players what's in their hand.  We
won't know what the reality is until just before bloom.

Randy Oliver

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