> >And yet, very large apiaries have been common in the past and bees seemed
> to thrive in them, depending on environment, etc.


Of course depends a lot on carrying capacity of the landscape.  But it also
sets up the apiary for the sorts of epidemics that have historically and
caused intermittent collapses of those apiaries.

Such sporadic collapses have perhaps become more common since the
introduction of varroa and *Nosema ceranae.*

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

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