102 



MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. 



Table VII. — Distribution of greenhouse cucumber growers and record of bees 



used in greenhouses. 



County. 



Number 

 known 

 to be en- 

 gaged in 

 cucumber 

 growing. 



Number 



report* 



ing. 



Number 

 of colonies 



Of 1-' 



known to 



be u'-eM 



annually. 



Bristol 



12 

 10 

 33 

 4 

 2 

 1 

 56 



7 

 2 



21 



1 



1 



1 



40 



140 





15 





244 





50 





20 



Suffolk 



15 





100 







Total 



118 











a Average of those reporting, 8. b Estimated total, 044. 



THE BEE MARKET. 



It is doubtful whether in any other State in the Union more 

 colonies of bees are sold, in proportion to the number on hand in the 

 spring, than in Massachusetts. As is pointed out, the cucumber in- 

 dustry has much to do with this. Although there are many small, 

 more or less amateur bee keepers in the State who customarily sell 

 their surplus colonies, the trade is not at all confined to them. The 

 supply houses and commercial bee keepers sell heavily, which is 

 remarkable in a region where there is so little bee keeping on a large 

 scale. Peculiarly, every county in the State shares in the trade 

 about equally, in proportion to their respective number of colonies. 

 The table, arranged from the statistics of 1906, shows that the bee 

 keepers of Bristol, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middle- 

 sex, Norfolk, and Worcester counties sold approximately one-fifth of 

 all the colonies on hand in the spring. Plymouth County, however, 

 took the lead, selling 39 per cent, while in the remote counties of 

 Barnstable and Berkshire, and in the metropolis county, Suffolk, the 

 sale was relatively light. 



Table VIII. — Number of colonies sold as compared with colonics on hand in 



spring of 1906. 



County. 



Number of colonies 

 of bees. 



County. 



Number of colonies 

 of bees. 



Spring 

 of 1906. 



Sold in 

 1906. 



Spring 

 of 1906. 



Sold in 

 1906. 





185 

 495 

 321 

 531 

 491 

 366 



1 



29 



80 



107 



102 



73 





40S 

 962 

 364 

 463 

 57 

 1,199 



46 



Berkshire 



Middlesex 



Norfolk 



Plymouth 



Suffolk 



142 



Bristol 



72 



Essex 



170 





3 



Hampden 



202 









