72,000 colonies and for a good pollination unit for almonds $150 per hive that is over $10,000,000.00 contract if he could rent them all out. He had suffered 50% winter loss and yes hives can be split and the colony numbers replenished by May to build up for a honey crop and canola pollination, but the 36,000 colonies that he didn't have for almonds is a 5 million dollar loss of income. When you have mortgages on land and buildings and loans on equipment and staff that need to be paid, this has is a huge economic impact.