4 
Beekeeping 
Extent of beekeeping in the United States and Canada. 
It is usually not realized that beekeeping has so many 
followers. Unfortunately, no thoroughly reliable data are 
available as to the number of persons engaged in this pursuit, 
but careful and seemingly conservative estimates place the 
number at about 800,000 in the United States. The average 
number of colonies owned is small, probably not more than 
ten, so that many of these persons are interested to only a 
slight degree. However, the aggregate crop is sufficiently 
great to cause surprise to one unfamiliar with the- industry. 
The value of the average annual crop of honey in the United 
States amounts to at least 120,000,000 while the beeswax 
produced is valued at about $2,000,000. It should be em¬ 
phasized that these estimates are conservative. 
The Census figures for Canada are seemingly as faulty as 
those for the United States. For example, the 1911 Census 
shows 124,237 colonies in Ontario, whereas, according to 
Morley Pettit, provincial apiarist, the number should be 
about 300,000. The total value of the honey and wax crop, 
according to the Census of 1911, is given as $713,250, but 
it is seemingly safe to state that Canada now produces a 
crop about one-tenth that of the United States. The in¬ 
dustry is steadily growing, especially in the provinces where 
the beekeepers are helped by inspection and instruction, 
as they are in Ontario. 
There is unquestionably great opportunity for the further 
development of the industry. Various writers have ven¬ 
tured estimates as to the amount of nectar now out of range 
of sufficient bees to gather it. These guesses have varied 
enormously, some stating that perhaps half the nectar 
secreted is wasted, while others, perhaps nearer the truth, 
have claimed that not more than one-twentieth is saved. 
In all the country, there are but few places where too many 
bees are kept and it is doubtless conservative to venture 
an estimate that ten times the present honey crop could 
be produced with profit. 
There is a fear commonly expressed by professional bee- 
