Most of the US honey bee colonies are owned by commercial beekeepers. There are vastly more sideline _beekeepers_ than large producers, however.

Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
(USDA) 2007 Census indicate that there were about 28,000 operations with 2.9 million bee
colonies in the United States. The majority of these, more than 2 million bee colonies, are
reported to belong to commercial migratory beekeepers. The Dakotas accounted for a combined
27% of all bee colonies. Another one-fifth of all colonies are in California (about 14%) and
Florida (7%). Montana, Minnesota, Idaho, and Texas accounted for 4%-5% each of all colonies
nationwide. Other states with a large number of bee colonies were Michigan, Oregon, Georgia,
Nebraska, New York, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, with about 2% each. Although
these operations also produce honey for commercial sale, it is their value as crop pollinators that
provides the greatest economic impact in the production of food and feed crops.

PLB

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