Here's something I was totally unaware of and it's the "traveller's luck" that I stumbled upon it while befriending a beekeeper at a campsite.

As there are not enough wild bees to serve the needs of intensive agriculture (watermelons, oranges, cucumbers, zucchini,...which are important to the region around Immokalee), and because insecticides have killed many of the wild bees, apiculturists now raise bees and rent out their ‘‘service’’ in performing their essential role in pollination.

These new types of beekeepers are in high demand. The bee colonies are under intense stress due to long-distance trucking to agricultural areas where they are needed.

It should be noted that these bees, since they are treated with antibiotics, are much more resistant to disease than their wild cousins, and this has the effect of even further weakening the wild bees. But what would happen if in the future these domestic bees were to die?

I spent two days with the beekeeper who was preparing to ship his bees to Wisconsin. Here is the report.