OREGON FARMER 95 



BEE CULTURE IN OREGON. 



By H. F. WILSON, 

 Research Assistant in Entomology. 



ITH such data as we have at hand, it would be impossible 

 to estimate correctly the status of bee-keeping in Oregon. 

 Many farmers keep from one to several stands for home 

 use, and in all parts of the state one may find from a few to many 

 colonies that not only furnish honey for the home but also 

 give a market surplus. 



In looking over the data secured in this survey, one might be led 

 to infer that most of our honey is produced in Southern Oregon, 

 but that inference is misleading. The division known as Central 

 Oregon probably has the greater number of large commercial apiaries, 

 with the Columbia Basin second and Southern Oregon third. These 

 facts are not shown in the survey, for the reason that it was taken 

 as a general farm survey, and of the five or six commercial apiaries 

 in Southern Oregon, the largest happened to be recorded. In the 

 survey of Central Oregon it so happened that out of a dozen or more 

 commercial apiaries, only two, of medium size, were recorded. 

 With these exceptions, other data at hand show that the average 

 that was arrived at, is fairly representative of existing conditions 

 According to the data in the accompanying table, 402 farms reported 

 bees; a total of 1,637 farms were visited, so that on an average, one 

 farm out of every four has bees. 



fegtThe U. S. Census for 1910 reports one farm in every five as having 

 bees, but during the last two years the number of colonies has 

 increased, both in the number of large apiaries and in the number on 

 small farms. A considerable increase is due to the number secured 

 by orchardists for pollenization purposes. 



With data on hand and the figures from the U. S. Census Report 

 for 1910, a distribution map has been made which shows some very 

 interesting facts. Each figure represents 1,000 colonies, showing 

 an approximate total of 50,000 colonies with a value of $250,000 . 00. 

 The writer believes that with the present average prices, an average 

 of five dollars per colony is not too high, although the census report 

 gives the total valuation of 47,285 colonies at $150,164.00. 



Of the 50,000 colonies, less than 20,000 are found outside of the 

 Willamette Valley and Coast Divisions. Apparently then, the 

 honey industry is in Western Oregon, but in reality only about one- 

 half as much honey is produced in these two divisions as in the others. 

 Many of the bees in the first two sections are barely self-supporting 

 and their only value is in pollenizing the fruit blossoms. The surplus 

 gained from the more thrifty colonies is generally small. The large 

 number in these sections is due to the number of small farms with 

 from one to thirty colonies. 



Taking the state as a whole, individual apiaries produce from a 

 few pounds to a carload (figured at about 40,000 pounds). The 

 number of colonies owned by individual bee-keepers varies from a 

 few, to six or seven hundred. 



