[Cold Heat]

Honey bee hives today are mainly there just to produce honey

I am not sure of the breakdown, but bee keepers are in very high demand and have been for years, especially in the south, and it has nothing to do with honey which is a byproduct. The bees are leased by ranches and farms, and it's a big deal down in these parts.

[slag]

Like I said bees are needed in some crops that are basically poor pollinators. The main crops grown corn, maze, cotton, peanuts, soybeans, sunflower, and some others do that job nicely with out the need of bees. The only exception would be seed blocks or crossing blocks where you have two or more parent lines that you want the bees to do the work of crosspolintion.