Honey was still our primary income this year but only due to the current high price of honey. If wholesale honey prices fall back to previous levels and pollination fees stay the same, pollination will be the majority by a good margin.
I suspect any figures showing more money in pollination are mostly reflective of the short crop last year and would be much more telling if honey prices weren't so high now.
As for the lists of pros and cons, for those in the far south you may be giving up some honey to go to almonds but for northern beeks that is not the case. In fact we may actually be gaining honey as they do often make some almond honey. While that is bitter honey and we don't extract it, the bees like it just fine. And their strength coming back is such they can make better use of early nectar flows in Wisconsin. Also, while there may be hive losses due to combining and travel to California, there are normally winter losses due to harsh northern conditions. Our California losses are equal or less than our Wisconsin losses were, even after consolidation, and the strength of the bees coming back has easily made up for that. The majority come home ready to rock. Of course being so strong so early is a mixed blessing as it is tough keeping ahead of them in the spring; swarming is a bigger problem. Also, big colonies in a cold late spring such as we had this last year in Wisconsin might need more feed than if they were more in tune size wise with that time of year in Wisconsin.
Additional feed is probably not too much of a factor as we would have needed to feed them more heavily for our cold winter. Additional pollen sub would be beneficial in Wisconsin as well, especially in years when the flow stops early due to drought or cold or rain as has been the case several years in a row, but we do give them more sub in California to keep them broody. The additional labor is a biggee, putting that feed and sub on in California and consolidating for strength. As someone already mentioned, we used to have a slower, more relaxed winter time. We took this time to repair/build equipment, relax a little and get psyched up for spring bee work. None of that anymore, it is pretty much a year round enterprise now. The travel back and forth and meals and lodging while out there is a large expense as well. But the largest single expense is shipping those truckloads out there, especially with high diesel prices.
Finally, what price does one give the huge risk of taking bees out there? One should not take this risk lightly. We have all heard the nightmare stories and I have seen a couple first hand. If you don't know what you are doing, or if the market changes suddenly or if your bees aren't healthy or if you are just plain unlucky, you could loose a bundle of money, plus your bees, plus the ability to make up your losses. It is a high stakes gamble.
Sheri