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by Lyle Johnston
From Fall 2006 magazine of American Honey Producers Association (AHPA)
Just what will happen nest February in the almonds is the question many beekeepers ask me daily! I wish I had a crystal ball; and of course my predictions are based on gut instincts. I know in the past if I had followed my gut instincts life would have been much easier! After the first week of February 2006 I felt there were at least 75,000 hives in California that did not have a home. Then for some crazy reason there were some beekeepers that had placed their hives in orchards and actually did not realize growers wanted bees inside the boxes! With the higher almond rentals growers have become very aware of what weak hives look like and were able to correct the problem before it was too late. Therefore, the last two weeks of February 2006 were a mad shuffle to replace weak or dead hives with the surplus that was available. When the dust settled the surplus of bees had all but dried up.
Last season’s almond pollination ended on somewhat of a down note due to the last minute price-cutting that occurred. Most almond growers now believe that there is an overabundance of bees and that prices will or should drop a considerable amount for the 2007 season. When beekeepers meet with their growers this fall, more time must be taken to talk about the bee supply that will be available for 2007 and the problems beekeepers still face. Many beekeepers had intentions of increasing their operations to offset the growth of almonds but as we all know those numbers have disappeared.
The devastating drought throughout most of the mid-west will cause severe stress on hives going into the fall. This will lead to very high winter losses. There were a few pockets that did produce but many beekeepers have reported this is the worst crop they have seen since they began keeping bees. I would venture to say that 60% of the bees that pollinate almonds spend the summers in the mid-west states. We have all had poor crops before and not matter what you do to the bees after a bad crop (pollen patties, feed) the bees just never seem to recover and look healthy.
If you couple the loss of bees from the mid-west along with the new acreage of almonds coming into production in 2007 this will keep rental prices on the increase. There are approximately 65,000 new acres that come into production (3rd year trees) that will require an additional 65,000 hives along with 27,000 new acres that came into production in 2006 (4th year trees) that will require 27,000 more hives this year. Also, I feel the demand for the Australian packages will drop off considerably from last year. The packages that I looked at were installed in late January and early February and were very poor. Most did not cover 3 to 5 frames and would not make a good pollinator. There were 40 to 50 thousand packages installed last year and I feel this could be cut in half this year. The increased acreage and the drop in package orders could increase the new hives required for 2007 by 100,000. This along with the high winter loss due to the drought will create quite a stir with the growers by February.
There has been an effort by some of the larger almond growers to form a cartel with the intention of dictating the price paid to beekeepers for rentals. There have been reports that this block of growers has offered as low as $90 for the upcoming year. This cartel is sure to fail quickly as they see there is no surplus of bees for 2007. The 2006 almond crops for the most part looks very good and the price to growers has increased since May. Almonds remain a very profitable crop for growers at this time.
Prices for the 2007 season will need to increase from 2006 prices to enable a good supply of bees for future years as more acres are scheduled to come on line through 2009. I have found most growers are not afraid to pay top dollar for strong hives so be prepared to pull out weaker hives and bring only the best to the orchards. Beekeepers are dividing into two marketing camps; those who grade and supply strong bees and will be paid $30 a hive more and those who want no pressure and are willing to get by with four frame averages and take $30 less. Make sure your grower understands there is a difference in bee quality. Good Luck, and market wisely!
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