A SURVEY OF BEEKEEPING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 15 



is using only one shallow hive-body for brood-rearing, hence swarm- 

 ing is excessive, and it is impossible to rear in such a hive a colony of 

 bees which will get the greatest amount of surplus honey. The crop 

 of the extracted honey producer is reduced not less than 10 per cent 

 because of drone comb in the brood chamber, from a failure to use 

 full sheets of foundation or to sort combs. In neither case is winter 

 protection given. It is impossible to estimate the loss sustained by 

 the producer of chunk honey, since no effort is made to control 

 swarming and the bees use up an enormous amount of energy in this 

 profitless way. However, the bees in the log " gums," because of the 

 thickness of the walls of the hive and the abundant stores, have better 

 winter protection than bees in any other type of hive used in North 

 Carolina. 



The inadequate census figures for the year 1909 give the total 

 colonies of bees on farms in North Carolina as 189,178. This, how- 

 ever, is far below the total number in the State. Estimating the 

 average production of 10 pounds a colony at the conservative figure 

 of 12£ cents a pound, the present annual income from honey is 

 $236,472. Increasing this to the conservative estimate of 50 pounds 

 a colony, the average production of the better beekeepers, gives an 

 annual estimated increased production of 7,567,120 pounds, or an 

 increase in revenue of $945,890. It is difficult to estimate the 

 increased revenue which would accrue from proper rendering of wax 

 and from stopping the loss occurring through the depredations of the 

 waxmoth. 



Again, using the census figures for 1909, the annual output of wax 

 is given as two-fifths of a pound per colony. With the adoption of 

 wax-rendering methods now used by the better beekeepers, the output 

 of wax per colony would be doubled, making the increased revenue 

 from this source $18,979. However, with other beekeeping methods, 

 the production of wax may decrease, as it has elsewhere. This 

 amount added to the estimated increase from honey makes $964,869. 

 It is obvious, therefore, that with proper encouragement and direc- 

 tion the beekeeping industry of the State could in a few years be 

 increased $1,000,000 annually. 



The estimate given above is based on the number of bees now in 

 the State according to the census figures. It is possible also to add 

 to these numbers by more thorough stocking of the field, as tons of 

 nectar are going to waste annually. Near the center of Alamance 

 County, for instance, in the neighborhood of Mebane, there are about 

 100 colonies, and Mr. E. C Turner, county agent for the southern 

 half of the county, who is himself a beekeeper, reports that practi- 

 cally no bees are kept until the extreme southern end of the county, 

 20 miles away, is reached. 



