According to my math, with 1,000,000 colonies, that's 56 colonies per square mile. Oldroyd estimated that in commercial honey production the density would typically be around 40 colonies/km2.


A small issue with the math,  640 acres per square mile,  2 hives per acre  is 1280 per acre of almonds.   While its true we do melons curbits and berries at higher density,  we do honey at much lower.    the melons and curbits  seldom have more than 200 acres per patch.  same with High bush berries.  and cranberries and most others are pretty spread out overall when compared to almonds,  The real key is the Feb timing  which tarts off a lot of hives with a good feed.
if I recall the actual number last year was 1.8 million hives  but memory  so I may be off a bit.  There are not a lot of "perfect sections" with full almonds  but they are loaded at 2 per acre  for the whole valley.

Its not all about the density IMO  its about the money.  for many of us 1/3 to 1/2 our income comes from almonds.    No need to battle for large hives without that Jan need, so fewer hives get supported and a lot of commercials go belly up.  In an industry thats been shrinking for decades,  its certianly not a help.
Charles

   

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