> So how does one figure the yearly per colony production average.

Well, like I said, the government just divides the total honey sold by the number of hives counted. Not very significant, really. Most of us only count the honey producing hives. I split my hives in the spring, but all of them produced a fall crop, so it's fair to say the average = the crop / the number of hives. But if one makes a bunch of splits to build up for next year's crop, it would be pointless to include them in the count. Like Randy says, beekeepers exaggerate as much as anyone else who gambles.

Pete

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