106 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS ON APICULTURE. 



SUMMARY. 



As early as 1644 the colonies made a beginning in apiculture in 

 Massachusetts. More than two centuries passed, however, before 

 modern bee keeping began, which came with the invention of the 

 frame hive by Langstroth in 1853. To-day there are more than 2.100 

 persons in the State who derive some profit from their bees. The 

 bee keepers who reported in the spring count of 1900 had 5,839 col- 

 onies, or an average of 5.5 colonies. Massachusetts needs fewer but 

 more proficient bee keepers, who will undertake their work along 

 business lines. The major part of Massachusetts is quite as inviting 

 and promising as Vermont and New York State, where bee keeping 

 is more profitably conducted. 



There are but three persons who report 75 to 100 colonies in their 

 yards, and but two who have more than 100 colonies. The number of 

 amateur bee keepers is reduced through the dropping out of 50 per 

 cent of the beginners during the past five years. 



In the production of honey and possibly of wax the effect of an 

 excess of semiproficient bee keepers is again apparent. In 1906 the 

 honey crop reported was 145,257 pounds, which is the largest recorded 

 for the State. But this is small when it is remembered that in the 

 West single individuals frequently produce in a single year from a 

 quarter to a third more honey than Massachusetts' total annual har- 

 vest. The crop would have been materially heavier if those who 

 reported had even approached the standard average of 35 pounds 

 instead of having harvested only 24 pounds. This lowering of the 

 average crop is in a large measure due to the great number of non- 

 progressive small bee keepers and to the presence of bee diseases. 



The more important honey sources, as reported by the bee keepers 

 in all parts of the State, are clovers, golden-rod and asters, fruit 

 bloom, basswood, wild raspberry and blackberry, sumac, and locust. 

 Some other plants, such as clethra and huckleberry, are of local 

 importance and some listed as of minor importance are probably 

 underestimated. 



The Italian race in varying degrees of purity is most popular. 

 The German or " black " still persists, but is rarely found pure. 



Twenty-five per cent of the bee keepers still use box hives to some 

 extent. The presence of box hives is most noticeable in the back 

 country, where modern methods penetrate less rapidly. Of the frame 

 hive types, the one standard for the country, the Langstroth, is most 

 generally used. 



The loss in the winter of 1906-7 was 16 to 17 per cent, which taxed 

 the bee keepers nearly $5,000. By far the majority winter their bees 

 on summer stands, protected in various ways or unprotected. A few 

 take advantage of cellar wintering, but most of those who follow 

 this practice are not especially proficient. 



