GLEANINGS IN BEE C U L T U R fl 



September, 1921 



good coiiiby in the brood-chamber, and by 

 management which prevents the congestion 

 of bees within the brood-nest. It gives di- 

 rections for hiving natural swarms and man- 

 aging them so that the crop of honey is not 

 reduced when swarms issue during the hon- 

 ey flow. It also gives directions for antici- 

 pating swarming when operating out-api- 

 aries or when the beekeeper is away from 

 liome during the day at swarming time. It 

 describes simple manipulations to prevent 

 swarming when producing extracted honey, 

 and points out the conditions under which 

 they may be expected to be effective. 



This iDulletin can now be had for the 

 asking by writing to the Department of 

 Agriculture. In doing this it is well to or- 

 der it thru the Bee Culture Division, Bureau 

 (if Entomology, AVashington, D. C. 



THE BUEEAU of the Census, on August 3, 

 released preliminary figures from the 1920 

 census of agricul- 

 The 1920 ture on the num- 



Census Figures. ber of colonies of 



bees and the pro- 

 duction of honey and beeswax in the United 

 States, with comparative figures for 1910. 

 According to these figures the number of 

 colonies of bees on farms on Januarv 1, 

 1920, was 3,476,346 as compared with 3,445,- 

 1)06 in 1910, an increase of 31,340 colonies 

 or .9%. 



The States reporting the largest number 

 of colonies on farms in 1920 were Texas 

 with 235,111, Tennessee with 191,898, Cali- 

 fornia with 180,719, North Carolina with 

 163,956, Illinois with 162,630, Missouri with 

 157,678, Kentucky with 156,889, and Ala- 

 bama with 153,766. These are the only 

 States which reported over 150,000 colonies. 



The production of honey by these bees on 

 the farms in 1919 was 55,261,552 pounds as 

 compared with 54,814,890 pounds in 1909, 

 an increase of .8%. California leads in the 

 amount of honey produced in 1919 with 

 5,501,738 pounds, followed bv Texas with 

 5,026,095 pounds, New York with 3,223,323 

 pounds, Iowa with 2,840,025 pounds, Wiscon- 

 sin with 2,676,683 pounds, and Colorado with 

 2,493,950 pounds, these being the six States 

 reporting more than 2,000,000 pounds. 



The production of wax was 826,539 

 pounds in 1919 as compared with 904,867 

 pounds in 1909. 



It is unfortunate that the Census Bureau 

 listed only colonies of bees on farms, for by 

 doing this they have not included the hold- 

 ings of many beekeepers who live in cities 

 find villages, as do many who are extensive- 

 ly engaged in honey i:)roduction. The fig- 

 ures, therefore, represent largely the hold- 

 ings of those who keep but a few colonies, 

 which in most cases are sadly neglected, as 

 shown by the low yield per colony. For 

 1919 this must have been less 11i;in 16 

 ]iounds. 



-Ks ail illustraliou of the \va\ it works nut 



to list only bees on farms, the District of 

 Columbia reported only 19 colonies for 1920 

 against 151 in 1910. Here the growth of 

 the city of Washington is gradually elimin- 

 ating the farms but not the bees. The edi- 

 tor saw nearly 200 colonies of bees within 

 the District of Columbia in 1920. He was 

 not hunting for apiaries, but saw only those 

 which happened to come to his attention. 



The census figures are significant, how- 

 ever, in that they show that bees on the 

 farms have actually increased during the 

 past 10 years. When noting the enormous 

 increase in the holdings of professional bee- 

 keepers in many parts of the country during 

 the past few years one gathers the impres- 

 sion that the bees of the country are pass- 

 ing from the hands of the small beekeeper 

 into the hands of the extensive producer, 

 but the census figures show about 90 per cent 

 as many beekeepers as in 1910. Apparently 

 the honeybee is holding its own on the 

 farms and increasing with great rapidity in 

 the hands of professional beekeepers. 



IT IS imjtossible to estimate the enormous 

 increase in honey production in this country 

 during the past dec- 

 The Silver ade. Many producers 

 Lining Now have doubled or tre- 

 Appears. bled their number of 



colonies w i th i n the 

 ])ast few years, forging ahead in production 

 almost by leaps and bounds. During the 

 last years of the war and up to last year the 

 high price of sugar and the difficulties in 

 obtaining it caused an abnormal demand 

 for honey for luanufacturing soft drinks, 

 for making ice cream, and for many other 

 manufacturing purposes, and at the same 

 time the foreign demand was excessive. Un- 

 der the stimulus of high prices and the good 

 demand for honey, beekeepers everywhere 

 have greatly increased their output, and 

 they were, therefore, not at all prepared for 

 tlie slump that came late last summer, since 

 which time many of the outlets, thru which 

 honey had been moving so fi-eely, have been 

 almost, if not entirely, closed. 



The silver lining to the clouds now dark- 

 ening the beekeepers' horizon is the fact 

 that beekeepers are now being compelled to 

 sell more of their honey locally, inducing 

 people to eat honey who have not been eat- 

 ing it before. If during the coming fall and 

 winter every beekeeper who can jiossibly do 

 so will push the sale of honey locally, buy- 

 ing more from some other beekeeper if he 

 runs out, we should emerge from the present 

 situation with a greatly increased demand 

 for honey for table use in this country. If, 

 as a result of a campaign of selling honey 

 locallj^, the American people should acquire 

 the habit of buying honey in five-pound 

 pails, the industry will then be ready for an- 

 other era of expansion in production to sup- 

 ]ily the tables of the American ])eople with 

 this n:ost \vli(i!('S(in:i.' sweel. 



