My additional commentary since the post has been pretty busy with many different viewpoints and sharing of sympathy.
Whether a beekeeper offers pollination services or just honey production is a matter of higher ratio of hives to hectares on the same farm/land.
The same risk applies for spraying on the crops... The same requirement to remove the bees beforehand...
BECAUSE > Even if the the farmer/landowner which have your bees is not spraying the farmer/s or landowner/s NEARBY [within 5km radius] could EASILY NOT agree to that very same practice and the bees still get impacted...
For honey production, often beekeepers have to resort to sites which are much less safe for reasons of theft, vandalism and or fire as well. And the ratio of hives to hectares is much higher meaning more sites required for more hives... More cost of moving the bees every time.
There are MANY FACTORS to consider on both sides.
Pollination and honey production have a place for beekeepers as a hybrid approach for beekeepers in South Africa.
Planning is paramount as part of the business operation:
One month the bees could be placed on citrus which pays very well for pollination and there may be some small quantity of honey produced as well. [Spray is likely and must be part of your contract and planning for placement and removal.]
The next month the bees can be placed on pumpkins which is a good way to help rebuild the bees as you DO NOT CHARGE pollination but just find a farmer/grower that is happy to host your bees... Or do something like seed pollination on onions.
Or, you find a eucalyptus forest/land which will be flowering alternately and there won't be any spraying for the bees to rebuild and recover from the strenuous pollination setup. [EDIT: I pressed enter here by mistake].
The point is, pollination and honey production is the best way to thrive as a beekeeper who wants to grow their BUSINESS...
Is it the best for the bees...? That's a different thing altogether.
The bees will suffer if they do not have enough food available and are not able to sustain themselves and abscond if they cannot get access to enough food throughout the year.
The bees will suffer and possibly die if they do not have enough food to survive the winter period.
In order to grow one's apiary size and quality of honey production both methods are needed...
What is pivotal, is taking the time to ensure the operation is run as a business! To take it seriously in all senses - including the legal, the planning, the risk management and so on and so on...
> Ensure contracts are in place: both for honey production sites + pollination sites
> Ensure your risks are well thought out and you have management in place for them:
¬ fire, theft, vandalism, public liability, flooding, injury, losses, poor harvests
> Ensure you have planned out your annual calendar: Honey production and pollination require proper management of what flowers where, when and who it is that has access to the land you need to place your bees on.
> Ensure you have enough transport access to move the bees when they need to be moved.
> Ensure fire hazards and fire breakers are in place on the sites you work on.
> Ensure handling of theft is covered in contracts and with insurance where possible.
> Place trackers in your hives if you are working in high-risk areas
> Place motion sensors if you dont have a tracker around your apiaries for early warning detection.
> Ensure you have multiple farmers / landowners lined up for your season and annual calendar ahead of time.
> Check who is using less pesticides on their farms.
> Run talks and go to farmer meetings to discuss the benefit of bees and the detriment of using pesticides
> Create an info pack for all farmers/landowners you deal with so they have an in-depth but useful insight to what THEY GET SOLD BY THE AGRI INDUSTRY about fertilisers and pesticides... being SAFE for bees. They are NOT.
There's a lot of work that goes into making beekeeping a business.
