474 AJSTNUAL REPORT SIMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1961 



This free service to agriculture is possible mainly for two reasons : 

 ( 1 ) Bee culture is a fascinating study and many persons keep bees as 

 a hobby or part-time activity, and (2) consumers of honey maintain 

 the commercial beekeeper, precarious though his livelihood may be. 

 The pollination of various crops is thus a distinct gamble and one 

 which may persist pending the time the public develops a greater 

 taste than it now has for honey. Better honey markets and better 

 returns to the beekeeper will be good insurance toward having depend- 

 able insect pollination year after year. 



Although no accurate counts have been made of persons keeping 

 bees, it is estimated that some 500,000 persons consider themselves as 

 keepers of the bees. Of this number, not over 3,000 depend on bee- 

 keeping as a principal means of livelihood. An apiary of 500 colonies 

 is considered about the maximum number for a full-time, one-man 

 outfit. Larger operations may involve 10,000 or more colonies. 



The bulk of the fraternity are amateurs, backlot enthusiasts who 

 keep from one or two to several hundred colonies. The production 

 in 1960 from the 5,430,000 colonies estimated to be in the United States 

 by the Department of Agriculture was 260,128,000 pounds of honey 

 and 4,728,000 pounds of beeswax, with a total value of over $48 million. 



Almost every State has an active beekeepers' association, and in 

 many places the beekeepers are organized on a county basis. In addi- 

 tion, there are numerous bee clubs of one kind or another. A wide- 

 awake group of city beekeepers meets monthly in the heart of New 

 York City. A beginner will find many kindred spirits and persons 

 with whom to compare notes. 



To be successful with bees, one must like to work with them ; capital 

 and equipment alone are not sufficient to insure success. Partnerships 

 in which one party furnishes the finances and the other the knowledge 

 are rarely successful. Beekeeping on a commercial scale is mostly a 

 one-owner business. 



A successful, full-time beekeeper is a person to be envied. He is 

 his own boss. During summer he works as hard as anyone, but after 

 the harvest he can relax. Even at the height of the active season it is 

 possible for him to attend a beekeepers meeting or go fishing. The 

 bees do not require the daily attention that other types of livestock 

 demand. 



The per-colony production of honey in the United States averages 

 between 40 and 50 poimds. For individual operators, a hundred 

 pounds per colony is not at all unusual. In favored localities and 

 under good management, 200 to 400 pounds is possible. On the less 

 rosy side, there can be complete failure in the honey crops, a failure 

 so serious as to require feeding the bees sugar sirup to keep them alive. 



It is essential that the colonies be kept in proximity to an abundant 



