That's an excellent question and one I hadn't really thought of before, except for the fact that there is a lot of work in the very initial stages looking at carrying capacity. For instance, in Nova Scotia, we're asking the question of how many hives we can accommodate in terms of food that's available for bees. That gets down to your question: if you have a high density of hives in a certain location, is there enough food for them all to feed on?
I'm not aware of any research that has looked at that question, but it's a good one. Again, it's one that is just starting to be looked at right here now in Nova Scotia.