FOURTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IX. 597 



Marion 2,848 Scott 1.704 



Marshall 1,399 Shelby 1,642 



Mills 560 Sioux 695 



Mitchell 1,030 Story 1,761 



Monona 1,389 Tama 1,604 



Monroe 1,742 Taylor 1,565 



Montgomery 895 Union 1,148 



Muscatine 1,923 Van Buren 2,278 



O'Brien 807 Wapello 2,215 



Osceola 266 Warren 2,840 



Page 1,403 Washington 2,400 



Palo Alto 637 Wayne 2,332 



Plymouth 1,454 Webster 1,496 



Pocahontas 607 Winnebago 503 



Polk 2,505 Winneshiek 2,076 



Pottawattamie 1,561 Woodbury 2,137 



Poweshiek 1,484 Worth 566 



Ringgold 1,691 Wright 1,268 



Sac 1,201 



According to the census report more than one farmer out of 

 every eight in Iowa keeps bees. The average value of bees per 

 farm reporting was only $17.88 in 1910. The fact that most of 

 the extensive bee keepers of the state do not reside on farms and 

 were not enumerated accounts for the small average. The same 

 report shows an increase of 15.3 per cent in value of bees on Iowa 

 farms in ten years, though no increase in the number of farms 

 reporting bees is shown. 



The reason that the development of bee culture has not kept 

 pace with other lines of agriculture in this state, lies in the lack 

 of organization and interest on the part of the bee keepers. They 

 have not had state aid to stimulate interest as has been the case 

 with the other agricultural and horticultural societies. The in- 

 dividual bee keepers have been isolated so that improved methods 

 have been slow to be generally adopted. "With other lines of work 

 certain methods are in very general use over the entire state. 

 With bee keeping it is different, and one is surprised to see what 

 a diversity of utensils and methods are to be found among Iowa 

 bee keepers. 



Now that the Iowa Bee Keepers Association has become strong 

 enough to attempt a systematic improvement of the industry 

 along all lines this condition will soon change and Iowa will take 

 first place as a honey producing state, area considered. 



The association has taken up the matter of better premiums 

 and better facilities for exhibiting hive products with every 



