Don't growers have some idea themselves what their needs are concerning hives per acre? Certainly recommendations are just guidelines not mandates, right? My growers, blueberries and apples, tell me what they need and where they want them placed. Over time they have figured that out by quantity and quality of fruit produced. That's the way it seems to me.

Do beekeepers have souls or is it all about the money? We all have souls and some depend, by choice, on bees and what we do w/ them to support us and our standard of living. In other words, to make money. Anybody in beekeeping purely for the money needs their head examined. Money is more easily gotten other ways w/ less stress and hard work. Maybe that was a joking statement? I didn't see any smiley face.

Pollination service providers and those who the service is being provided to are dancing together for mutual benefit and enjoyment. Whether someone is exaggerating the need for their own benefit I don't know, but growers are just as much businesspersons as beekeepers who serve them. So who is inflating the numbers? Who does it benefit to do so? Follow the money.

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