Location, location, location.
Here, the truck farming pollination is usually at the tail end of the citrus bloom so the bees are already built up and thinking about swarming. Make nucs from the strong hives before you put them in. Don't take the queen! For good pollination they need to be still in a brood expansion mind set. They need room for the queen to lay so they want lots of pollen coming in to feed them with. Here, we feed them while on melons, cucumbers and squash. This is what the farmer is paying us for. You want the farmer to say he had more bloom set with your bees this year than in a long time. Course its a double edged sword, if he gets bad seed, fertilizer, etc., it can get blamed on poor bees. The going rate was $45-$50 a box this year.