>
> >I feel fairly certain these bees are headed to almond pollination in
> California, some 2,600 miles away on the West Coast


Here on the receiving end, those trucks are pouring down Interstate 80.
There's a big rain storm coming this weekend, which will turn many orchards
into mud.  We beekeepers here are madly rushing to try to get as many hives
in as possible before the storm hits (and then pray that the orchards don't
flood).

Almond pollination is full crazy each year at this time--somehow our trucks
all wait until now to break down.  In the past two days we've had a blowout
and a fuel pump go out.  Contracts are still being worked out.  Payment for
a year's work all rests upon getting the hives placed in the orchards
during a very narrow time window--one in which it often rains (or snows at
my elevation).  A sheriff friend called yesterday with the first hive theft
report.  I see my sons now experiencing the stress that I had to deal with
each year, and feel for them.

Yes, we make a lot of money in almonds, but we earn every penny!

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

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