1/ US beekeepers lost nearly 40% of their honeybee colonies last winter, per @NPR. That's the biggest winter loss since they started counting in an annual survey.
These losses can have an unexpected consequence: Hive thefts.
🐝 Here's how it works... 🐝 npr.org/sections/thesa…
2/ Each winter, U.S. beekeepers bring thousands of hives to California's Central Valley for the almond pollination.
It takes three quarters of America's managed honeybees to complete the task. BILLIONS of bees. nytimes.com/2018/08/15/mag…
3/ Demand for these bees has been going up for years, as California farmers plant more and more almond trees.
Here's a quick snapshot of almond production for reference, from the Almond Board of California's 2017 Almond Almanac. 👇👇
4/ Now here's a quick look at prices that farmers pay to rent hives. beeculture.com/2018-almond-po…
Notice a trend?
5/ It's a pretty simple supply and demand issue. More almond trees means more demand for honeybees.
Yet there are only so many honeybees available in the U.S. And we're already using most of them.
Demand is increasing, but supply isn't. In fact, supply is dying off.
6/ Which leads us to thefts.
If you live in California, you've probably seen bee boxes set in stacks on the side of the highway. There are rarely security cameras or trackers near them.
Each one of those boxes is worth about $200 to an almond farmer.
7/ You can see where this is going.
Bee thieves have recognized an opportunity. And in the spring of 2017, two of them were busted for what may be the biggest bee rustling operation of all time. @ByardDuncan investigated: revealnews.org/article/califo…
8/ We also dug into the issue on a recent episode. You can listen here: revealnews.org/episodes/farm-…
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