• Plan of distribution of colonies 

 in the field. 



• Time of delivery and removal. 



• The beekeeper's right of entry 

 to service his colonies. 



• The degree of protection from 

 pesticides that will be given the bees. 



• Plan of payment of the rental 

 fees. 



USING STRONG COLONIES 



Since there is no set number of 

 honey bees in a colony, one needs to 

 know about differences in colony 

 strength before renting bees for pol- 

 lination. Colony strength refers to 

 the number of bees in the hive or the 

 area of a hive that is densely occu- 

 pied by bees. A strong colony has 

 about 15,000 bees in each deep sec- 

 tion (super, story, or hive body). 

 When such a hive is opened, bees 

 will immediately appear to "boil 

 over" and cover the tops of the 

 frames. 



Whenever recommendations are 

 made in this bulletin for a given 

 number of colonies per acre, it is 

 assumed that the colonies used are 

 strong colonies in hives of two 

 stories or more. And while most bee- 

 keepers can be relied on to supply 

 strong colonies, check to be sure that 

 colonies you rent are strong. Weak 

 colonies at bargain prices are a poor 

 investment. Such colonies may not 

 pollinate your crop effectively, and 

 yields may suffer. 



A colony that is used to pollinate 

 crops should be housed in at least a 

 two-story hive, containing at least 

 30,000 bees, and have 6 to 12 full 

 frames of brood in all stages of 

 development. If possible, obtain 







A reasonably strong two-story colony of 

 honey bees. 



stronger colonies; however, when 

 colonies are too strong, the working 

 force will swarm away. Get the bee- 

 keeper's advice as to how strong the 

 colonies should be before they will 

 swarm. 



ESTIMATING COLONY 

 STRENGTH 



To estimate colony strength, look 

 inside the hive. The strength of a 

 colony cannot be determined by the 

 size of the hive it occupies. Use a 

 veil and gloves when opening the 

 hives. 



When the weather is good, two or 

 three dozen bees should be flying 



