86 
MISCELLANEOUS PAPEES ON APICULTUKE. 
NUMBER OF COLONIES PER BEE KEEPER. 
There are but two bee keepers in the State who report more than 
100 colonies, but several have nearly this number. 
Table II. — Location of Massachusetts' largest apiaries, as reported for 1906. 
County. 
50 to 75 
colonies. 
75 to 100 
colonies. 
100 colo- 
nies and 
over. 
County. 
50 to 75 
colonies. 
75 to 100 
colonies. 
100 colo- 
nies and 
over. 
1 
4 
1 
i 
1 
a2 
1 
Total 
2 
1 
9 
3 2 
Hampshire 
" One of these bee keepers writes that he increased from 55 to 133 colonies in 1906. 
It is a peculiar fact that in Worcester County, where more bees 
are to be found than in any other county and where bee keeping is 
progressive, none reports 50 colonies and few have even 25. The 
two largest bee keepers in the State are located in Plymouth County. 
That there are so few large bee keepers in Massachusetts is due, in 
the writer's estimation, to the heretofore unrecognized ravages of 
disease. This is discussed elsewhere in this paper and in another 
publication of this Bureau. In Middlesex County, for instance, 
where, so far as at present known, disease is not prevalent, the 
greatest number of large bee keepers is found and also the second 
greatest number of colonies. 
DISTRIBUTION OF BEES IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
In the eastern section, exclusive of Barnstable County, with its 
high ratio of novices, there are practically as many colonies of bees 
per bee keeper as in the western section. According to the figures for 
1906, the following table presents the conditions : 
Table III. — Distribution of bees in Massachusetts. 
Spring. 
Fall- 
Section of State. 
Number 
of col- 
onies. 
Colonies 
per bee 
keeper. 
Number 
of col- 
onies. 
1,760 
3,897 
182 
5.4 
5.5 
10.0 
2,530 
5,595 
227 
Total for the State 
5,839 
5.5 
8,352 
From the foregoing table it will be seen that the minimum number 
of colonies is in direct disproportion to the large number of bee 
a Gates, Burton N. 1908. Bee Diseases in Massachusetts. Bulletin No. 75, 
Part III, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Wash- 
ington. Bui. 124, Mass. Agr. Exp. Station. 
