A STATISTICAL STUDY OF TEXAS BEEKEEPING. | 
By Witi1am Harper DEAN, 
Recognizing the importance of the role played by beekeeping in the 
development of Texas’ natural resources, and the growth of this industry 
during recent years, the State Entomological Department has undertaken 
to gather such statistics as would give a clear insight to the present status 
of apiculture in the State. 
In studying the figures and summaries which follow on succeeding 
pages, the reader should bear in mind the fact that while these figures 
are authentic and accurate as far as they go, they do not represent the 
status of the industry in its entirety. 
They are incomplete. There is hardly a system of ‘mail canvass for 
statistics that is not faulty and that fails to get complete returns. The 
personal equation is a factor to be reckoned with; there are many bee- 
keepers who do not consider their operations of sufficient scope to war- 
rant their making out a report; many forget to send them; many are 
lost in the mails. 
However, the fact remains that with detailed reports. from upwards of 
_ 8000 active beekeepers situated in every part of the State, figures are 
sufficient for deducting some valuable conclusions and establishing im- 
portant facts. ‘ 
In the beginning, this department built up a list of 5788 presumably 
active beekeepers. T'o each of these was sent a letter asking for a detailed 
report of the status of his business for the year 1911. Report blanks and 
return stamped envelopes were included with these requests for infor- 
mation. In an effort to curtail the number of delinquent correspondents 
in this canvass, follow-up letters were mailed to all those who had failed 
to respond to the initial request for reports. These letters brought in 
a great many reports. Finally post cards were mailed to all who still 
had not responded, and after the returns from this final effort were all 
in, the remaining names not heard from were eliminated from the “active 
list.” The result, as stated above, was that the original 5788 names were 
reduced to 2733, the figures from whose reports for the year 1911 con- 
stitute the basis for this digest. 
TABLE I.—NUMBER AND VALUE OF COLONIES REPORTED, BY COUNTIES. 
The following tabulation of hives and their value by counties is based 
upon actual reports received, the valuation of $5 apiece for colonies in 
movable frame hives and $1 apiece for colonies in box hives, or “gums,” 
being placed by this Department. Such valuations, especially in the 
case of colonies in movable frame hives, are low—conservative, to say the 
least, in view of the fact that in recent years full colonies in movable 
frame hives have brought in Texas from $7.50 to even as high as $10 
apiece. 
