ANIMAL INDUSTRIES 233 



and of bees' wax 500,000 pounds. The beekeeping 

 industry is well distributed throughout the southern 

 peninsula but chiefly in the "Thumb" section and 

 has made a good beginning iji the northern region, 

 where conditions have been found very favorable, 

 owing to the large amount of wild vegetation which 

 yields subsistence for the little workers.^ 



The beekeepers of Michigan are organized in a 

 State association which is interested in their social 

 and educational affairs. There are thirty-five county 

 societies, while the marketing of their product is in 

 charge of the Michigan Honey Producers Exchange. 

 The home market is excellent but is said to be in- 

 adequately supplied. In the view of the State Apiary 

 Inspector (1921), beekeeping is now passing into 

 the hands of specialists, the general farmer having 

 relinquished the business very largely. There are 

 reported to be from 8,000 to 10,000 beekeepers in 

 the State. ( An estimate of the Michigan State Farm 

 Bureau puts the number of beekeepers in Michigan 

 at 15,000, possesvsing 150,000 colonies of bees.) 



]\Iichigan possesses several kinds of native and 

 cultivated plants well suited to the bee industry, 

 including the clovers, white and yellow, alsike, and 

 the white sweet clover; while in the northern counties, 

 the raspberry, milkweed and firewood are the chief 



^ See Michigan Farmer, Aug. 13, 1921, pages 9-137. Cf. 

 Cliap. IX. Anioiif,' tlie plants siiilal)le to hoes in the north- 

 ern cut-over area, the State Apiary Inapeetor notes alsike 

 and white clover, wild red raspberry, blackberry, fire-weed, 

 bassvvood, boneset and aster, 



