> What we don't have is a number of hives for those with less than 5 (in my area this is almost every beekeeper).

Like I said, that number is unknown, and could be a half a million hives. We also don't have the number of hives held by people who do not and will not report. I think the estimate from the 1990s is perfectly valid. The number of hives in the US has not changed radically in 100 years, and there is no reason to think that the number of amateur beekeepers has vastly diminished, especially with the resurgence of interest in beekeeping. 

In fact, look at the bee journals. When they first came out they were published weekly. In the early 20th century they were big and fat, like the old LIFE magazines. In the fifties they were downsized, about the size of the Farmer's Almanac. In the seventies the magazines got big again and now they are full color glossy affairs full of advertising. I think we are at a high point again in the number of amateurs.

PLB

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