JUNE 1, 1914 



HONEY PRODUCTION OF IOWA 



BY FRANK C. PELLETT, STATE INSPECTOR OF APIARIES. 



For some time past the writer has been 

 collecting records of honey production of 

 the various localities of Iowa. While no 

 such enormous yields are reported as we 

 hear of in distant regions, on the whole the 

 honey production of our State is fairly 

 constant. Wliite clover is the gi'eat nec- 

 tar-producer; and the localities where the 

 flow from white clover is supplemented by a 

 fall flow from heartsease or other plants 

 offer the beekeeper a pretty certain income. 

 Correspondence comes to this office from 

 every section of the State; and the yields 

 average much alike in all sections where 

 there is a fall flow. White clover is report- 

 ed as the principal source of nectar by 

 nearly every beekeeper reporting. One or 

 two place sweet clover at the head of the 

 list. In addition to white and sweet clover, 

 basswood, heartsease, and fruit bloom fur- 

 nish the nectar from which Iowa honey is 

 stored. The average per colony, per year, 

 counting good years and bad ones, good 

 colonies and poor ones for a long series of 

 years, is reported as from 45 to 50 pounds 

 from a considerable number of localities. I 

 may say that, judging from the reports, all 

 sections of the State where (here is a fall 

 flow may be depended upon to produce an 

 annual average of nearly fifty pounds per 

 colony in the hands of intelligent apiarists. 

 Localities where there is no fall flow report 

 from twenty-five to thirty pounds as an 

 average yield. 



The record yield of a single colony, as far 

 as reported, is 290 pounds of well-filled 

 section honey, which was produced by F. 

 W. Hall, in Sioux County. Mr. Hall is now 

 at Colo, Iowa. We have several other 

 yields above 200 pounds. At least two re- 

 ports are at hand of the production of .300 

 pounds of extracted honey from a single 

 colony. It is a little surprising that the 

 record yield of comb honey should be al- 

 most as large as that of extracted honey, 

 although of course the general average is 

 much smaller. There are few entire fail- 

 ures in this State; and while the big crops 

 reported from western localities are lack- 

 ing, I am inclined to believe that for a long 

 series of years the producer will fare as 

 well in Iowa as elsewhere. There is, per- 

 haps, as much unoccupied bee range in our 

 State as anywhere, and the beekeeper need 

 not look far for a location. S. W. Snyder 

 of Center Point, reports that two apiarists 

 in his township produced 20,000 pounds of 

 honey last season, and did not occupy more 

 than two-thirds of the range in the one 



township. From figures obtained, it is esti- 

 mated that not to exceed one-tenth of the 

 honey production possible to the State is 

 now realized. 



J. L. Strong, the well-known queen- 

 breeder of Clarinda, has kept bees in his 

 locality for more than forty years. Since 

 1885 he has kept very careful records of the 

 production of his apiary. The average of 

 tlie seasons in his locality may be judged 

 by the following record of the colony on 

 scales. It will be noticed that not once in 

 the twenty-eight seasons has the colony on 

 scales failed to produce some surplus. Mr. 

 Strong's records for the seasons are as fol- 

 lows, all extracted, in pounds : 



Mr. Strong has devoted his entire atten- 

 tion to beekeeping since 1882. He reports 

 that the heaviest yield in a single day was 

 18 pounds, gathered by the colony on the 

 scales, July 8, 1903. 



Beekeeping has been long overshadowed 

 by other agricultural industries; but land 

 values are now so Iiigh that men of small 

 means will be compelled to turn to some- 

 thing requiring a small acreage of land. 

 The beekeepers have recently organized an 

 association, and the meeting at DesMoines 

 was attended with unusual enthusiasm. A 

 great program was outlined, including a 

 chair of beekeeping at the State Agricul- 

 tural College, extension lectures on bee- 

 keeping, an appropriation of ten thousand 

 dollars for foul-brood inspection, better 

 premiums, and better facilities for exhibit- 

 ing at fairs, and similar things. The pros- 

 pects are exceedingly good for getting them 

 all. 



Beekeeping in Iowa is now looking up 

 decidedly, and bids fair soon to be on the 

 boom. It is easy to make tilings go when a 

 lot of red-blooded fellows get together and 

 boost. There is room in Iowa for five 

 hundred live beekeepers who will establish 

 a chain of outyards without getting in the 

 way of those already in the business. They 

 will be welcomed by those already here. In 

 many parts of tlie State local markets are 

 good, and in other sections they can be 



