>I can remember a time when you worked to keep hive numbers down.
Price wars over hive and brood sales.

I agree with Bob that the cull/replacement rate in a commercial operation
is sobering.  But that's how it's always been for me in Calif.  My rule of
thumb long before varroa was that I expected to only take 2/3rds of my June
peak number to almonds the next winter.  But that "loss" was mostly due to
culling of poorly-performing colonies, not mortality.

It's amazing how things have changed.  Let's compare beekeeping prices in
1980 with those of today.  The value of a 1980 dollar today would be
somewhere between $2.50 and $3.00, depending upon how it's calculated.
I'll use the average of $2.75

In the 1980's I sold nucs for years at $29, which would equal $80 in
today's dollars; I sell nucs today for $125
The going price for many years for a decent double deep hive was $55;  That
would be $151 in today's dollars.

So in adjusted dollars, bees are of far more value today.  It's more costly
to keep bees these days, partially due to the higher loss rate (for
whatever reason).

And look at honey and pollination rents.  In 1983 wholesale honey imports
were in the 40-50 cent range (U.S. price support was 62 cents).  In today's
dollars, that 50 cent price would be $1.37.  Wholesale honey is currently
selling at $2 and up.  Almond pollination in the mid 80's (from memory) was
about $12--$33 in today's dollars.  Last year I averaged about $160.

My point is that beekeeping today is potentially far more profitable than
it was in the 1980's, and with fewer pesticide problems.  If one can keep
their loss rate down via better husbandry, one can actually make a living
at it.

The better California beekeepers today are in the same situation in the
spring as in yesteryear--they need to shake (and sell) bees big time in the
spring in order to keep all their hives from swarming.  Yes, it costs them
more to keep a hive alive, but they find that it is worth it.

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

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