The California almond industry requires more than one million
colonies to pollinate their 530,000 acres of almonds. The state's
$1.189 billion almond crop is entirely dependent on honey bee
pollination and California growers are responsible for more than half
the world's almond production. It is estimated that half the
colonies required for almond pollination come from California and
the other half are trucked in from all over the United States with the
majority coming from Montana and North Dakota. However, even beekeepers as far south as Florida and east as Pennsylvania truck
in their bees for the bloom. Last year's almond pollination season took over half of all the hives in the United States. This year the demand is even greater and will require more bee hives because of the rise in
almond acreage which has been steadily increasing since 1984.
Due to shortages of honeybees this year, pollination prices have
jumped to around $100 per hive. What's the primary reason for
the shortage of colonies you ask? Our good old friend, Varroa
destructor. Infestations have caused widespread colony death by
directly invading the colony and feeding on the brood and adults
or indirectly by spreading diseases. Hive losses have reached
50 percent in some states.
Source: GBL March 2005.