Honeybees aren't native to the US Both wild and domesticated Honey bees were present in the Americas when European colonists arrived. However, the common honey

Honeybees aren't native to the US Both wild and domesticated Honey bees were present in the Americas when European colonists arrived. However, the common honey bee was not among them, and the other (I hesitate to say 'native') species are indeed no longer extant. If CCD is causing problems for professional beekeepers, those problems don't seem to be reflected in the economy. The price of queen bees hasn't changed. Queen pricing might not be as strongly correlated to CCD as you might expect. Raising queens is indeed done commercially by specialized beekeepers, but if you're already a beekeeper, it is not hard to do or learn. You can raise dozens at the same time, in a single hive, and this does not stop that hive from producing honey later in the season. It's therefore quite possible that the increased demand in queens after overwintering has simply been met by an increase in the supply.