THE HONEY CROP OF AMERICA for 1881.

Patea Mail, 15 April 1882, Page 3

THE HONEY CROP OF AMERICA for 1881.

The severe and protracted winter of 1880-81—the severest known for many vcars in America—proved a most disastrous one for bee-keepers by causing the loss of many thousands of colonies of bees. It has been estimated that in the Northern States over 60 per cent of the bees that went into winter quarters in the fall of 1880 perished before spring ; while those that survived the winter came out in such a weakly condition that they required a

large aniMinf. of care and nursing to get in condition for gathering honey. But notwithstanding these discouraging drawbacks—which only appear to have stimulated the bee-keepers to greater exertion to make good their losses—the honey crop and increase for 1881 is truly astonishing. The American Bee Journal for October 1881 contains statistics of the honey crop, &c., for thirty-two States, showing the number of colonies in spring to have been 137,636, in fall 235,510, increase 71 per cent. ; total amount of honey taken, 0,467,6221bs ; average per colony 691bs. The names are also given of 43 prominent bee-keepers, of which the editor says “ The 43 persons named below commenced the season will* 2579 weak colonies. These have increased' to more than double the original number, and have given 182,2431b5. of extracted honey, and 95,1441b5. comb honey as surplus, leaving 100,0001bs. in the 5,209 hives for winteruse. The average per hive of honey produced is about 1381b5., and the fall crop will bring this to over 1501bs. per colony, the amount taken from each hive averaging 107£lbs. to every colony in the spring. Several of the colonies counted in the spring were devoted to queen rearing, and of course gave no surplus.” The editorfurther adds :—“ There are in America about 3,000,000 colonics of bees, but our reports are from less than a quarter of a million, or one twelth of the whole. If the one-twelth that are reported are a fairaverage of the whole, then the crop of American honey for 1881 amounts to 120,000,0001 bs. If we call it only a hundred millions, it is worth 15,000,000d015. (about £3,125,000). Surety the industry is of sufficient magnitude to satisfy the most enthusiastic of its devotees.”

Just contemplate ! About 50,000 tons of honey worth £3,125,000, in one season. Who will say that the honey industry is only of minor importance, after reading the above figures ? What an enormous number of people must have found profitable employment directly and indirectly, in connection with the raising of so large a crop of honey. What a vast gain to the State it is, the gathering of this product that would otherwise go to waste. Truly the above figures show an astonishing result of a season’s work, especially when we take into consideration the short time that bee-keeping has been carried on scientifically. No doubt there is a grand opportunity for farmers in this country with a little capital to invest some of it in a profitable pursuit, by cultivating insects that will gather some of the nectar from the flowers, that are now “ wasting their sweetness on the desert air.”—l. Hopkins, Thames.