Each hive, enclosing the colony or swarm of bees, is a family unit and consists of a laying queen, a few drones, and several thousand worker bees. Because the worker bees pollinate crops, it is important to understand how their populations change throughout the spring and summer. In early spring, a colony may have 10,000 to 20,000 workers, but by summer the colony should have reached a population of 40,000 to 60,000 workers. During these months the lower portion of the hive, called the brood chamber, is filled with eggs, larvae, and pupae called brood, which are reared in the cells of the comb. Generally, the larger the brood area, the greater the demand for nectar and pollen, thus the greater foraging activity by the bees. This in turn results in more pollination. Colonies used in pollination rental must have brood, and the amount of brood is a strong indication of the effectiveness of the colony for pollination.
Colonies should have at least 20 pounds of honey in reserve to allow the bees to survive cool weather or other periods when they are confined to the colony.
Requirements for spring pollination rentals for use in fruit tree bloom, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc. are as follows:
Rental fees range from $10.00 to $20.00 per colony.
In consideration of summer colony pollination rental such as legumes,
sunflowers, and cucurbits, more brood and additional space for honey
storage should be present:
Rental fees range from $10.00 up.
The grower, along with the beekeeper, should check colony strength by examining the colony. One method is to observe bee flight at the hive entrance. If one or more colonies do not have much flight activity, the grower should look inside the hive with the beekeeper. On days of ideal weather conditions, there should be noticeable activity at the entrance of the hives.