> How many bees, how many colonies can a narrow margin strip support -
> especially if its aggressively mown or treated with herbicides to kill
> everything but the grass?

Jerry, I have many thousands of miles and 20+ years of midwestern 
driving experience and have almost never witnessed this crop 
margin / roadside herbiciding you talk about whereas I routinely
see it occuring in California. I see mowing occuring only about 
twice a year in the midwest with an abundance of flowering plants 
poping up within just a week or two of mowing.  So at any given 
time during the growing season there is forage available on each 
square mile of midwestern farmland.

> And yes, even in the most intense corn belt areas, one can find 'islands'
> of resource, from farm gardens to riparian zones along waterways.
> But, you can also go miles without seeing anything but corn and those
> narrow strips along the pavement.

I tend of disagree. I see abundant islands of forage on each
square mile of the midwestern corn / soybean belt. Example: here 
is an aerial photo taken from about 20,000 feet above
eastern Nebraska and I've marked examples of forage 
areas on one square mile in yellow:
http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/4af/sqylow.jpg

Anyway, my original question to you was "what evidence 
do you have that indicates the hives that DO exist in the 
intensive corn growing areas of Illinois and surrounding 
States are not thriving?"  In other words, have a preponderance
of beekeepers in those areas been reporting a decline in
honey crops and failure to thrive?  Especially since the
widespread adoption of neonic treated seed beginning
around 2004 - 2005?

Paul Cherubini

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