46 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS <>.\ APICULTURE. 



is of the opinion that the island is just about half stocked. The 

 island of Oahu seems to be well covered from an apicultural stand- 

 point. Molokai is not a cane-producing island, but the algarroba 

 forest is nearly stocked, and the only place for heavy expansion seems 

 to be in the mountains, where several forest trees are nectar bearing. 

 The island of Maui could not be examined as carefully as the others 

 on account of inclement weather, but from reports received it is ob- 

 viously not stocked to the extent that it should be. The island of 

 Hawaii, the largest of the group, is relatively the least developed of 

 any of the islands. There are only a few apiaries on this area, which 

 is almost equal in extent to Connecticut, and there are great possibili- 

 ties. On the south coast there are vast areas of cane, and the same 

 is true of the Hamakua coast on the north. The Kona coast w T ould 

 probably support some bees in the coffee plantations. One such 

 apiary was seen by the author (PI. VII, fig. 2). On the interior of 

 the island there are vast areas which are entirely undeveloped from 

 an apicultural standpoint, and the island can doubtless support 

 thousands of colonies of bees at a profit. 



The total area now actually stocked with apiaries would not nearly 

 equal in size one-half the State of Rhode Island, while the honey crop 

 is probably 20 times as great as in that State. According to the 

 Census Report for Rhode Island it would be 40 times as great, but we 

 can not use this figure on account of its obvious unreliability. This 

 comparison will show the honey-producing capabilities of the islands 

 as compared with our more northern countries, and will also show how 

 thoroughly the areas are stocked where the industry has been taken 

 up. A small part of Oahu is doubtless overstocked, due to crowding 

 into a given area by competitive companies. There was no evidence 

 of such overstocking elsewhere. 



Overstocking an area with bees is a subject much discussed among 

 bee men, and the situation in Hawaii illustrates very beautifully the 

 fact that a theoretical discussion of how many colonies may be kept 

 in one place is of no value whatever. Each location must be judged 

 on its own merits, and a given area which will support only 20 colonies 

 in one region may support 1,000 elsewhere. It is also obvious that 

 seasons vary to a marked degree. In many parts of the mainland it 

 is deemed advisable to keep not more than 100 colonies in one apiary 

 and to allow each apiary a radius of 1-J to 3 miles. On the basis of 

 these figures, from 50 to 200 acres are necessary to support a single 

 colony of bees. Without discussing the merits of these figures, it is 

 enough to sa} r that this is the common mainland practice, particularly 

 in the more densely populated areas. In contrast to this, an examina- 

 tion of the methods in Hawaii is extremely significant. One area of 

 cane on the island of Oahu contains a little over 20,000 acres. As will 



