Reduced yields have long been an issue for beekeepers as seen by this excerpt from the Beekeeper's Review, January 1901:

Mr. H. L. McLallen, a former pupil of
Mr. W. L. Coggshall, but now the owner
of several hundred colonies, made a very
bright remark at the Romulus institute.

He said: "We can't produce so much
honey per colony as we did years ago, but
we can make more money. The reason is
that we can keep more bees with less
labor." The reason of the lessened yield
per colony is the cutting off of natural
resources, such as clover and basswood,
but the improved methods that enable us
to manage a greater number of colonies,
the short cuts. if we will only recognize
and practice them, really give us advantages
over our predecessors. It Is in the
discovery and practice of short cuts that
we must look for our financial salvation.

I know of no more hopeful field for the
apiarist than the production of extracted
honey on a large scale. Keep a lot of
bees, scatter them around the country,
and don't use up all of your profits in
useless manipulations. 

PLB

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