The problem I have with surveys, whether it is one from BIP or the USDA, is that I don't keep track of what they want info on very well. Most of my answers come from memory. And everyone aught to know how poor memory is when it comes to statistics. So, unless I know before hand what to take note of before hand the answers are prone to be faulty at best. So what's the validity of the study?

On the other hand, this BIP report is only one report and we should not take too much from it or give it too much credit. The most important thing to come from the BIP reports may be the trend over time, not the individual year.

As I have written elsewhere, what we have in this report are statistics derived from people who answer on line surveys. Pretty much what PLB stated earlier. So that in itself is a small and specific group of people. Perhaps what would be a better way of determining what BIP wants to determine would be if there were as many specific/known beekeepers as possible who were surveyed year after year.

Are any of us experts at statistical analysis? Maybe someone who is could explain to us how our thinking is wrong or correct.

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