335 



OUR IMPORTS OF HONEY. 



Bee-keeping, which has been called the ** poetry of agri- 

 tulture/' is a branch of rural economy for which provision is 

 made in the schemes of agricultural instruction of a number 

 of English County Councils, while in Ireland the progress of 

 apiculture forms the subject of an annual inquiry by the 

 Registrar-General. Societies and clubs for the promotion ot 

 bee-culture have been formed in many parts of the country and 

 their numbers are steadily increasing. There are 30 country 

 and district societies affiliated with the British Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, and the council of this latter body hold that the 

 attention now being given to the formation of new societies 

 and clubs of bee-keepers cannot fail to have a marked result 

 in the development of bee-keeping and honey production. In 

 the absence of complete statistical information for Great 

 Britain it is, however, difficult to obtain any satisfactory 

 estimate of the production of honey in the United Kingdom 

 as a whole. The agricultural statistics for Ireland have for 

 some years past furnished particulars relative to the extent to 

 which bee-keeping is followed in that country. The first Irish 

 enquiry was made in 1885, when the production of honey was 

 estimated at 302,000 lbs., of which 105,400 lbs. was produced 

 in hives with movable combs, and the remainder in other 

 hives. In the ten years subsequent to 1886 the annual out- 

 put of honey ranged from 192,000 lbs. to 459,000 lbs. ; the 

 average for the period being 300,000 lbs. The latest published 

 returns show that the number of stocks brought through the 

 winter of 1896-97 was 16,503; of which 7,761 were in hives 

 having movable combs, and 8,742 in other hives. The yield 

 of honey in the season of 1896 amounted to 275,000 lbs., and 

 of beeswax to 3,832 lbs. 



During the past five years the annual importation of honey 

 into the United Kingdom has averaged 2,250,000 lbs., of the 



