IN YOUR ORCHARD
THE BEE BOX
Moving Bees Into Almonds
Semi load of honey bees arriving in California in January. Photo Credit: Matt Hoepfinger
Most of us know that migratory beekeepers from all across the country move millions of honey bee colonies into the California Central Valley for almond pollination each year. Aside from the phone calls with the brokers or chats with your contracted beekeepers, have you ever thought about the logistical affair in terms of time, energy and resources required for such a large-scale migration before they land in your orchards ? These millions of colonies are loaded from locations all throughout the country, many from the dead of winter or from storage facilities, trucked for miles across the land, inspected at border stations, offloaded from semis, then spaced out in the almond orchards by beekeepers and their crews in the few short, and often rainy, weeks before the bloom.
Semis can haul over 400 honey bee colonies per load and can take three days to get to the Central Valley if coming from the east coast. Some beekeepers overwinter in California so they ship out the previous fall with a little more time to spare, but this practice comes with its own set of drawbacks. When these bees get to California, they are offloaded into holding yards. Because of warm winters, limited forage and high bee density, some beekeepers will feed their bees all through winter in the Central Valley. Most bees arrive shortly before almond bloom and bees are offloaded into temporary holding yards. When a load arrives the first task is to remove the nets.
Holding yard in the California Central Valley. Photo credit: Matt Hoepfinger
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