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Date: | Mon, 8 Apr 2019 21:26:00 -0400 |
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> I suspect it make good rational sense that the numbers in 1945 were exaggerated due to their capacity for allowing people draft deferments
My understanding was that colony numbers were greatly increased during WW II due to the demand for beeswax for the war effort, and honey was in demand due to sugar rationing. After the war, the numbers plummeted because neither beeswax nor honey was in demand and prices were at rock bottom.
Following the war, beekeepers were faced with a dire situation and lobbied congress for protection. They raised the specter that without 5 or 6 million hives of bees, the nation's crops would not get pollinated. Apparently that was an illusion because today, with half that number, crops do in fact get pollinated.
The honey price support program was supposed to prop up the bee industry but the joke is: if beekeepers get a good price for honey, they don't want to do pollination which is much riskier and less profitable (excepting almonds but that is a more recent change).
References:
> in 1947 beekeeping was heavily subsidized by the government. Honey was used as a replacement for sugar which was being rationed due to World War II. Beeswax was used for waterproofing as a substitute for petroleum which was also rationed during this time.
Taylor, C. (1999). The United States Honey Industry Marketing and Future Outlook. Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
> During World War II beeswax was used extensively in the war effort. Beeswax was used for sealing shells, for waterproofing, and for protective coatings of shells, ignition apparatus, electrical equipment, and machinery. It was also used to coat airplane wings. The coating allowed the plane to slip through the air with less resistance.
Dunham, W. C. (1956). An analysis of beekeeping in Ohio (Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University).
(I have copies of these documents and most of the others I have cited over the years. PLB)
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