> Are these figures correct? Only 600?

Really not accurate figures available.

Some claim larger numbers of hives than owned and others claim smaller 
numbers of hives than owned. Some have been claiming the same number of 
hives owned every year for decades.

Commercial migratory beekeepers hives are rarely in one place and many lease 
or own interests in other operations.

Not black or white but a big gray area.


> There are now less than 600 commercial beekeepers in America.  \

I was on the phone earlier with a commercial beekeeper with his hives in 
Texas and we were discussing the way the national meetings and the upcoming 
KHPA meeting is trending to hobby and sideline beekeepers.  Members of both 
AHPA & ABF boards both say the reason is the majority of people attending 
are hobby & sideline and the presentations reflect the majority.

Just over 3 years ago we had over 3,000 commercial beekeepers
> in America. Bee losses are resulting in costs that are simply not possible
> to recover from.

I doubt the figure of 3000 has been correct for many years. A thousand might 
be a high figure.
>
I see fact problems with most of the advertisement for mead but Juanse asked 
about the number of commercial beekeepers.

I will say the beekeepers I deal with still do business on handshakes and on 
agreements over the phone.

The world of beekeepers which attempt to make a living from bees keeps 
getting smaller and when many of the older retire the larger beekeepers take 
over their operations and few sideliners want to get larger. Young people 
today for the most part really are not interested in the lifestyle.

Most of the large beekeeper labor force is imported from other countries 
seasonal or Hispanic.

I have made lifelong friends in beekeeping and their friendship has made 
successful beekeeping possible. We help each other if need be.

I would hate to start down the road of commercial beekeeping by myself with 
only the beekeeping books sold today to guide me.

The hobby beekeeper for the most part looks at hives in a bee yard as each 
hive being like a tree needing care . The commercial beekeeper looks at the 
same bee yard as a forest needing care not as single trees.

bob

Heading out of state in morning. Need to water my bonsai trees and get to 
bed.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm