Industry Trends

A swarm in a tree is docile, temporary, and not dangerous. It's also 10,000 free bees that a local beekeeper will probably come collect within hours.

Some beekeepers call them 'honey excluders.' Data shows 5-15% production reduction in some studies, none in others. The debate has outlasted the data.

One brood box instead of two cuts weight, reduces inspections, and forces earlier swarm management. Europeans have done it for decades. The US is catching on.

You can set up frames for 60 cents each or nearly $2 per frame. Both contain hexagonal cell patterns. Both work. So what's that extra $1.40 buying you?

The professionals lose more colonies than the hobbyists. That's not a statistical quirk - it's a structural problem baked into commercial-scale beekeeping. What's different about operating at scale, and why it costs more bees.

Almond pollination pays $200-250 per colony for three weeks. Honey production grosses $40-60 per colony over an entire season. The math changed the industry.

A dead colony costs more than the bees. Equipment depreciation, lost honey, replacement package, requeening - one winter kill runs $500-800 per hive.