>
> >Randy, I think the nectar plant filled roadsides / crop margins
> of the upper Midwest are a paradise for pollinators:


Paul, I feel that others have explained the situation well.  A handful of
butterflies weighs maybe an ounce, and has very little nutritional need.

A colony of bees, containing 10 lbs of bees, with a 70-day turnover of
population needs a minimum of about 20 lbs of pollen just to provide the
protein requirements to replace the population.  Now multiply that by say
the needs of a 100-hive apiary.  That apiary would require 2000 lbs of
nutritious pollen every two months, or about 1000 lbs a month.  They would
have trouble finding that amount on the road margins!

Randy Oliver

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