I'm under the impression that they used the same math--the total reported
honey yield, divided by the reported number of honey-producing hives.
Pete, do you have reason to assume that NASS changed their calculation
methods consistently over time?

This is exactly the point: I don't doubt the yield, but the method for counting hives. At one point in the 1980s they revised the method, at which point the colony count fell by one million. Partly this was because they realized migratory hives had been counted more than once, and partly because they disallowed holdings of 5 or less. If the number of colonies is inaccurate then all the rest is inaccurate. GIGO.

PLB

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