> Do beekeepers find it difficult to provide
> a small number of hives to small growers?

Yes.

a)  The labor and trouble required to "move hives"
    means that someone who wants only 3 hives must
    pay much more per hive than someone who wants
    30 or 60 hives, if the beekeeper is to hope to
    break even, let alone (gasp!) make a profit.

b)  Sure, it would be great if a group of growers
    could ban together, get organized, and at least
    arrange for delivery of hives at the same time
    to several places near each other, but I've never
    seen or heard of this happening myself.

> Is the fact that they only need a handful of hives a
> barrier to them getting them?

Not if they seek out a small beekeeper who might not
even have a truck or trailer.  If the beekeeper had
someone who provided the truck, and helped with the
heavy lifting (the beekeeper would seal the hives
beforehand) in the middle of the night, small growers
and small beekeepers could both benefit.  A group of
growers could even rent a lift-gate truck, which would
be ideal for a small move.

> Does demand for hives from large growers mean that
> there are no hives available?

It is more a function of "agreements".  I take my hives
every year to the same orchards.  I will likely do so
until I die.  We have a very long-term agreement.

Others have year-to-year agreements, but their bees
are "reserved" long before spring.

> Is it mainly hobbyist or part-time beekeepers who can help?

Sure they can, see above as to why they may not want to
at present.

> Do these growers tend to keep a few hives themselves?

Maybe some growers do.  Any grower could.  One problem is that
the bees need to be moved out of crops before they are sprayed,
and most "growers" don't have good forage to support bee colonies.
Growers have created massive areas of monoculture, where bees
would starve if left "near the crop".


           jim (I had a few hives, and lots of theories about
                beekeeping, but now I have lots of hives, and
                no theories at all.)

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