You know, when these collapse stories came out, the first thing I thought about was the fact that these mega-keepers put these hives in 18 wheel trucks and ship them from one coast to the other, and that can’t be good. Intermingling that many bees, countrywide in the span of a season is not good for their immune systems. They weren’t made for that kind of assault.
Dangerous, when you have to rely on a gypsy beekeeper to pollinate your crops. Better to get your own hives, or get together with some other local farmers and co-op some hives.
There was a Canadian beekeeper on another site talking about his hives. He said he thinks it’s pretty much that. He has his average 10% or so loss every year and it’s been holding steady for a long time. He doesn’t stress his bees though which is what he thinks is helping him kee his colonies.