4 BULLETIN- 685, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



EXTENT OF INDUSTRY. 



The importance of the honey industry in the United States 

 is realized by few, even of those who have given some atten- 

 tion to the subject, owing to the fact that the census figures, 

 which are naturally looked to for information, report only 

 concerning the bees belonging to farmers, whereas a large 

 and increasing proportion of the honeybees of the country, 

 producing a stiU larger proportion of the honey crop, belong 

 to beekeepers other than farmers and are located in villages 

 and towns, or, by permission of the farmer or landowner, 

 are kept in out-of-the-way places on farms or hidden in the 

 recesses of the hills, away from frequented roads where they 

 would be readily observed. Surveys of the beekeeping in- 

 dustry in Massachusetts and Indiana indicate that the census 

 included hardly more than half the actual number of colonies 

 of bees in those States and checks on honey production show 

 similar deficiencies in other States. 



The census reports indicate for 1910 a total of 3,445,006 

 colonies, which, if accepted as representing the number on 

 farms, though it is certain that not all such were recorded, 

 may be taken to indicate in the hands of farmers and all 

 others certainly not less than 5,000,000 colonies, more prob- 

 ably 6,000,000, and possibly more. Leading commercial 

 honey authorities estimate the number to be much higher. 



The production of honey in 1909, according to the same 

 authority, was approximately 55,000,000 pounds. That this 

 is far below the facts is certain. The average yields indi- 

 cated by the census reports are about 16 pounds in 1909 

 and about 15 pounds in 1900, whereas the average yields as 

 reported to the Bureau of Crop Estimates by honey pro- 

 ducers are about 40 pounds per colony. Only a little over 

 half the farms reporting bees gave any figures on honey 

 production to the census enumerators. The proportion that 

 actually produced no honey is unknown, but the actual 

 yields per colony on farms must have been considerably 

 higher than those indicated by these imperfect returns to 

 the census enumerators. The honey producers' reports are 

 more nearly representative of the commercial producer, 

 who often, and probably as a rule, is not a farmer, and it 

 may be safely assumed that the average production per 

 colony of bees not belonging to farmers is considerably 



