Bureau of Agbicultuee. 229 



aggregate for the outside market. By far the largest 

 yields of honey per colony of bees is obtained by the pro- 

 fessional bee man. With modern equipment and proper 

 management of the apiary, a yield of 100 to 200 pounds 

 of surplus honey per colony of bees is obtained during a 

 favorable season, while 25 pounds per colony is about 

 the average for the State. Something like one-half of 

 the commercial crop of honey is from the apiaries of the 

 professional bee men. 



According to the census of 1910 one in seven Ken- 

 tucky farms reported having honey Lees, and the aver- 

 age was about five colonies per farm. The State then 

 ranked twelfth in the amount and value of honey pro- 

 duced. Since that date great advancement has been 

 made in the number of colonies, the total honey crop and 

 amount produced per colony, as well as a large increase 

 in value of the investments in bees and equipment. In 

 1915 the honey crop is estimated at 5,000,000 pounds, 

 with the State ranking third or fourth in amount and 

 value of honey produced. 



The largest honey producing section is the hill coun- 

 ties of Northern Kentucky bordering on or near the Ohio 

 Eiver from about Maysville to CarroUton. Seventy-five 

 per cent, of the crop in this section is obtained from 

 sweet clover, about 15 per cent, from fall aster, and the 

 remainder from white clover, alsike, the blossoms of 

 fruits, wild herbs and some forest trees. This section 

 produces about one-half of the State's commercial crop. 

 In 1915 Pendleton county with 5,000 colonies produced 

 500,000 pounds of honey above what was consumed lo- 

 cally. One-half of this amount was produced in about 

 thirty large apiaries — one apiary alone producing 40,000 

 pounds during the season, with an average of nearly 

 200 pounds per colony. The honey crop is marketed in 

 three forms, namely: extracted honey 50%; section 

 honey, 35%; and "Chunk" honey, 15%. 



Beeswax is an important commercial product of 

 honey bees. The amount produced varies considerably 

 with the form of honey marketed, as little wax is saved 

 where it is sold as section or "chunk" honey. Some 

 seasons the amount of wax produced is over 50,000 

 pounds. The rearing of queen bees for breeding pur- 



