246 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



Honeybees Crop Report 



Number of Colonies coniiiared with last year. Condition of 

 Compared with last year. Condition of Nectar Plants 

 Comijai-ed AVith Last Year 



Bees 



The Bureau of Statistics (Crop 

 Estimates) on May 1 made an in- 

 quiry regarding the number of col- 

 onies of honeybees, their condi- 

 tion, and the condition of tlie 

 principal nectar-bearing plants. 

 The inquiry covered the addition- 

 al subjects of the principal nectar- 

 producing plants in the different 

 sections and the approximate dates 

 of nectar flow of each. 



As this is the first inquiry on 

 the subject, and no comparisons 

 exist based on previous inquiries 

 by the Bureau, it is difficult to 

 draw conclusions, except in a most 

 general way. 



The number of colonies of bees 

 in the United States this year, 

 spring count, appears to be about 4 

 per cent above the number last 

 year and 2 per cent above recent 

 years are reported in the New Eng- 

 land States, Pennsylvania, Georgia, 

 Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Miss- 

 issippi, Louisiana, and California. 

 The loss in California and in a 

 majority of the other States named 

 was due to a severe epidemic of 

 foul-brood disease. Increases are 

 particularly marked in the North 

 Central, Rocky Mountain and Pa- 

 cific Coast States except as already 

 noted. 



The condition of the colonies is 

 reported to be about 98 per cent of 

 a normal, taking the United States 

 as a whole. The condition is about 

 5 per cent above normal, however, 

 in the Rocky Mountain and Paci- 

 fic Coast States. The condition of 

 colonies compared with last spring 

 is about 4 per cent better, being re- 

 ported as inferior only in :Maine, 

 Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vir- 

 ginia, West Virginia, Georgia, Ohio, 

 Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, 

 and Mississippi. It is generally bet- 

 ter than last spring in the North 

 Central States and very much bet- 

 ter in the Rocky Mountain and 

 Pacific Coast states. 



The condition of nectar-bearing 

 plants averages about 99 per cent 



of a normal for the United States 

 as a whole, ranging in the neigh- 

 borhood of 9 5 in all the country 

 east of the Rockies, excepting 

 Texas, where it is 115, and about 

 105 per cent in the Rocky Mountain 

 and Pacific Coast States, being 

 highest, 120 per cent, in California. 

 Compared with last year, the condi- 

 tion of nectar-bearing plants aver- 

 ages 3 per cent higher for the Unit- 

 ed States, being generally slightly 

 below last year east of the Rockies, 

 except in Texas, where it is 50 per 

 cent better, and decidedly better in 

 the Rocky Mountain and Pacific 

 Coast States, reaching the very 

 high figure of 175 per cent com- 

 pared with last year in California, 

 where moisture conditions in the 

 white-sage country presage a 

 bountiful nectar flow. 



In the important honey-produc- 

 ing states of Texas, Colorado and 

 California the outlook is very prom- 

 ising, showing numbers of colon- 

 ies compared with recent years of 

 115, 115, and 85 and compared 

 with last year of 112, 120, and 9 3 

 per cent, respectively; colony con- 

 ditions compared with normal of 

 115, 110, and 107, and compared 

 with last year of 120, 110 and 125 

 per cent; and condition of nectar- 

 producing plants compared with 

 normal of 115, 107 and 120 and 

 compared with last year of 150, 

 .10 7 and 175 per cent, respectively. 



The number of colonies in the 

 white clover belt of the North 

 Central States is at least 5 per 

 cent above the number last year", 

 and, taken as a whole, the condi- 

 tion of the colonies is equal to that 

 of last year; but the condition of 

 nectar plants in these States is 

 reported as not quite so good as 

 last year, due partly to a late 

 spring and partly to loss of clover 

 from the drought in some sections. 



An inquiry will be made in 

 July regarding honey production, 

 and another inquiry on the same 

 subject will be made later in the 

 season. It is hoped in the mean- 



