British Columbia beekeepers, like many beekeepers around the world, are currently facing declines in honey bee health and high overwinter colony losses. To better understand the economics and the cycle of yearly colony loss and replacement of this critical agricultural industry, we collected and analyzed survey data on beekeeping costs and returns. Forty British Columbia beekeepers provided details about revenue sources, variable costs, capital costs, and investments. Ten surveyed beekeepers managed between 1 and 9 colonies, 10 managed between 10 and 39 colonies, 9 managed between 40 and 100 colonies, 5 managed between 101 and 299 colonies, 3 managed between 300 and 699 colonies, and 3 managed 700 colonies or more. The data was used to calculate beekeeping profit and to parameterize a model that explores the economic impact of colony loss rates and replacement strategies. Survey results show that when the data is aggregated, revenues exceed costs for beekeeping operations in British Columbia with a per colony profit of $56.92 or $0.87 per pound of honey produced. Surveyed operations with fewer than 100 colonies have negative profits, while operations with 100–299 colonies have positive profits. Surveyed operations in the Cariboo, North Coast, and Okanagan regions have the highest profits while surveyed operations in the Peace region have the lowest profits. Profit modeling shows that replacing losses with packages generates lower profit than replacing losses with split colonies. Our modeling shows that operations that diversify their revenue to include bee sales and commercial pollination accrue higher profits and can withstand higher winter loss rates.

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不列颠哥伦比亚省养蜂收入和成本：调查数据和利润模型

与世界各地的许多养蜂人一样，不列颠哥伦比亚省的养蜂人目前面临着蜜蜂健康状况下降和越冬蜂群大量流失的问题。为了更好地了解这一关键农业产业的经济学以及每年蜂群损失和替代的周期，我们收集并分析了养蜂成本和回报的调查数据。四十名不列颠哥伦比亚省养蜂人提供了有关收入来源、可变成本、资本成本和投资的详细信息。10 名接受调查的养蜂人管理 1 至 9 个蜂群，10 名管理 10 至 39 蜂群，9 名管理 40 至 100 蜂群，5 名管理 101 至 299 蜂群，3 名管理 300 至 699 蜂群，3 名管理 700 或更多蜂群。这些数据用于计算养蜂利润，并对探索蜂群损失率和替代策略的经济影响的模型进行参数化。调查结果显示，汇总数据后，不列颠哥伦比亚省养蜂业的收入超过了成本，每个蜂群的利润为 56.92 美元，即每生产一磅蜂蜜 0.87 美元。接受调查的蜂群数量少于 100 个的企业利润为负，而蜂群数量为 100-299 个的企业利润为正。卡里布、北海岸和奥肯那根地区的受访企业利润最高，而和平地区的受访企业利润最低。利润模型表明，用包裹替代损失产生的利润低于用分裂菌落替代损失的利润。我们的模型显示，将收入多元化包括蜜蜂销售和商业授粉的业务可以获得更高的利润，并且可以承受更高的冬季损失率。