162 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE- 



persons engaged in the culture of the bee, and according to the 

 United States census report, they produced in 1869 14,703,815 

 lb. of honey, and in 1889, twenty years later, 53,894,168 lb. 

 According to the eleventh census, the value of the honey and 

 beeswax production of the United States at wholesale rates was 

 about £1,458,333, and a conservative estimate of the present 

 annual production is about £4,167,500. As supplementary to 

 these figures, it may be stated that in addition to the fifteen 

 steam-power factories, there is a very large number of smaller 

 factories, using mainly hand and horse power, which are en- 

 gaged in the production of supplies, such as hives, smokers, 

 honey extractors, and other apparati. 



Bee-keepers in Southern California have as many as 600 

 or even 1,000 colonies of bees in a single apiary, and secure 

 from 100 to 200 lb. of extracted honey per colony. One bee- 

 keeper in Riverside county reported one year a crop of 10 tons 

 of first quality of extracted honey and 3 tons of the finest comb 

 honey, all from 154 colonies, which, during the season, in- 

 creased to 196. A report reaches this office of one San Diego 

 county man whose bees this season produced six carloads of 

 honey. Not long ago a Ventura county man had the misfor- 

 tune to lose 2 tons of honey, which ran down a canyon through 

 an accident, and still had 50 tons remaining for siale. Statis- 

 tics as to the Californian output of honey are not available, but 

 the crop of 1897 is estimated variously at from 225 up to 400 car- 

 loads of 12 tons each, of which San Diego is expected to furnish 

 sixty. California honey is known in nearly all markets. 



Bee-keeping" in this State has not kept pace in proportion 

 with the population, as is the case in America, neither are we 

 such honey consumers. The Americans are proverbially fond 

 of sweets and our people do not appear to be educated in their 

 tastes to consume a like proportion. Certainly all the honey 

 produced in this State is consumed here, or nearly so, and 

 occasionally we hear of a few tons being imported. In the 

 country places of America neai'ly everyone is his own bee-keeper, 

 the townspeo/ple consuming the overplus. 



In 1891 there were twelve competitors for the National 

 Prize ofi^ered by the Government of New South Wales, and in 1892 

 the increase of competitors was but two. Since then the in- 

 crease of bee-keepers has been gradually swelling, until this year 

 the dealers in the bee-keepers' supplies have been unable to 

 execute their orders, especially in the supply of foundation 



