No. 4.] Bt:E KEEPING. 411 



BEE KEEPING: HOW TO MEET ITS DANGERS AND 

 DIFFICULTIES. 



BY BURTON N. GATES, WITH SUGGESTIONS FROM PROF. C. F. HODGE, 

 COLLEGIATE DEPARTMENT OF CLARK UNIVERSITY, WORCESTER. 



Massachusetts produces less than one-fourth of the honey 

 consumed in the State. The past year this amount was 

 approximately 200 tons, of which 15 tons came from Ver- 

 mont and upward of 145 tons from California.* With a 

 population of 2,805,000 this would give .14 of a pound, or 

 less than two tablespoonfuls of honey, per person as a year's 

 ration. 



The average yield of honey per colony in the above- 

 named States in 1900 was as follows : — 



Pounds. 



Vermont, ......... 14.2 



Massachusetts, ........ 13.0 



California, 28.3 



while in Texas, which produced the largest amount of any 

 one State, the yield per colony was only 12.2 pounds. 



These averages are all low, and must be considered to 

 mean, in the main, inefficient management ; yet the colo- 

 nies in California are being handled more generally accord- 

 ing to modern and improved methods. Not infrequently 

 well-managed apiaries in Massachusetts produce from 80 to 

 50 pounds, and yields of over 100 pounds of surplus comb 

 honey are not rare. With the adequate development of the 

 industry, there is no doubt that Massachusetts could pro- 

 duce all the honey annually consumed within the State, 

 and even beyond that amount, without straining the limits 

 of our natural resources. 



* Estimate by Hon. Walter H. Blodget of Worcester. 



