30 billion honey bees working in CA right now..

Here are some newsworthy facts about Almond Pollination from BBC.

"Californian almond pollination requires billions of honeybees travelling thousands of miles in a nationally coordinated migration operating on a scale that is almost unimaginable."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21741651

Highlights:

• A staggering 85% of the world's almonds are grown in the Central Valley; the 450-mile-long, flat-bottomed valley that dominates mid-California.

• Almond blossom appears before the leaves emerge and the resulting white and pink flowers make great swathes of the Valley look as if heavy snow has fallen.

• There are over 1.5 million hives in the Valley at this time of year. With more than 20,000 bees in each hive, this means that there are more than 30 billion honey bees in the Central Valley and all of them have been brought there to work. 

• Once there, the bees work the blossom throughout the sunny spring days, collecting nectar and pollen to raise their brood - the larvae developing within the hive - and inadvertently transferring pollen between flowers. Once pollinated, the trees set fruit and start the process of producing almonds.