>
> >a major Sacramento Valley newspaper pubished an ominous
> sounding article today: HONEY BEES COULD BE IN SHORT SUPPLY


Thanks, Paul.  At last Wednesday's Calif Queen Breeders meeting, someone
mentioned the workshop in Chico, which had apparently not been announced to
beekeepers.  The newspaper author is apparently totally oblivious to the
current situation.

I've been speaking with some major pollination brokers.  The situation is
still up in the air.  There currently appears to be a glut of colonies,
mainly due to the lack of water for irrigation.  However, there are two
mitigating factors.

First, many beekeepers are currently doing their before move in inspections
of their colonies.  Every year a certain percentage of colonies are culled,
depending upon the scrupulousness of the beekeeper (some don't cull at
all).  I'm hearing of cull rates this week of 8-10%, which is not unusual.
So the supply depends partly upon how realistic beekeepers were about their
final numbers when they signed contracts.  The actual supply could change in
a hurry, as Bob said.

Second, I'm currently running down confirmation about crop insurance for
almonds.  I just heard this morning that it is going at $1.80/lb, which is
higher than current market value.  However, to obtain an insurance
settlement, the grower apparently needs to manage the orchard normally.  So
even if he has no water, he must still place two colonies of bees per acre
in order to collect insurance.  So I'm not sure just what kinds of games are
being played by growers with the water issue.

Most beekeepers are holding to their prices, or at most dropping a few
dollars.  But there are also giveaway ads in the papers.  These generally
don't appear until the last minute.  And some years the last minute ads have
been for sky high prices--it all depends upon the last minute supply and
demand.

Randy Oliver
Snowing at my place, sunny in the almonds two hours away

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