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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
James Fischer <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 11 Jul 2015 11:10:44 -0400
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>  parroting of the myth that the 
> honey bee population is in decline

But the ongoing conversion of working capital into bees to compensate for
losses is not really an increase in the number of colonies, is it?

If one loses 1/5th to 1/3rd of their colonies each year despite best
efforts, this forces pollinators to increase in the number of hives they
attempt to maintain because one needs half again as many colonies to expect
to meet pollination contracts while still taking the losses.  But this is a
very different model from not so long ago, when survival rates were far
better, and beekeepers could expect to spilt strong colonies and expand
their hive counts for nothing more than the cost of woodenware.

> There is a good deal of pre-varroa, pre 
> serious pesticide data on rates of
> colony buildup, to which we can 
> compare to what our bees are 
> achieving today.

And even this data does not convince you that there is a general "decline"
in the performance of our hives?

> My point is that in some instances, 
> scientists are  propagating myths in
> the literature, while lay beekeepers 
> have a much better grasp of the facts.

Other than your uniquely divergent view of this "decline" issue, what other
"myths" do you think are being published in the literature?

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