Regarding statement or inferences that "You have repeatedly stated that large scale beekeeping operations have essentially created their own problems. I have inquired as to what practices you are referring to and what proof you have that any of these practices are actually causing any of the problems that have been observed."
   
  I have a hunch that much of what is being conveyed is an erroneous sense that large agricultural producers of (fill in the blank) are so hurried and harried, stretched so thin as to surrender their individualized attention to their animals/hives/fields, and thus, they are poor managers by virtue of their size.  
   
  I don't necessarily share this point of view, but I've seen construction contractors and soybean farmers with such large operations that they race around like their butt was on fire, cutting corners, trying to beat the weather, mismanaging details, and generally doing a poor job.  They'd probably make more money with less business and more attention to their work.  And in a sense, they do create their own problems.  Some people can grow too large or they get too greedy.  And then there are some large producers that succeed because they possess a sense of good management.
   
  As I speak for myself, I know I gave more individualized attention to my bees when I had 4 hives, than when I grew to 150 hives.  With 4 hives, I could take more time, and I had more focus to notice the small things.  I could open a hive and examine each frame for ten minutes, counting brood, marking queens, etc.  Today, I can't afford to fawn all over my bees and give each of  them the T.L.C. I would like.  But this doesn't make me a bad producer.  
   
  As I work my bees, I frequently skip over some of the non-essential details in favor of working more hives. Yes, there is the potential for me to miss some things that could grow into larger problems, in a sense, creating my own problems.  But with a larger operation, I've also become a better observer, a more astute manager of my time, and a better equipped juggler of my obligations and family responsibilities.
   
  I raise my own queens, make my own nucs/splits, produce both extracted and comb honey.  I also retail and wholesale my honey.  I like to think of my operation as sustainable.  If I get much larger, I can foresee becoming more specialized into a niche in which I'll have to subsidize a lot of my activities to outside suppliers.  Such a move would make me more efficient, but perhaps not more sustainable.  And size doesn't necessarily convey a sense of being a poor manager.
   
  Grant
  Jackson, MO

       
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