Statistics on United States beekeeping are sparse and not totally
accurate. The following is an estimate of the state of the industry
in 1993 <http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/apis93/apjun93.htm#4>:

· 125,000 beekeepers--located in every state
· 3.03 million colonies--operated by owners of five or more colonies
· Typical commercial operation--1500-2500 colonies
· About 600 beekeepers operate 1,000 or more colonies each; as a
group these produce 75% of the U.S. honey crop
· Farm value of honey crop--$US 125 million
· U.S. honey consumption--1.1 pounds
· Employment--2,400 full time and 6,100 part time employees
· Added value (pollination) to 40 U.S. crops--$US 9.7 billion

Sources of Revenue produced by the beekeeping industry that year:

· Honey production--$US 125 million
· Pollination rentals--$US 46 million
· Queens and packages--$US 27 million
· Hive products--$US 5 million

Historically, beekeeping has declined in the United States. In 1947,
there were 5.9 million beehives. This number decreased steadily,
leveling off at 4.1 million in the 1980s, but falling off again to a
1993 level of 2.9 million.



Comment:

If you take the figure 1000 colonies, you eliminate almost every
beekeeper I know. I know many people who own between 300 and 900
hives. If they are not commercial beekeepers, why are they working so
hard?

I owned 450 hives in the 1980s. I grossed $80,000 a year from honey
and bee pollen.  According to the dictionary, "commercial" means
"having profit as the chief aim." If you are doing bees solely for
fun, then it is not commercial.

And what about the 2400 - 6000 employees? Aren't they commercial
beekeepers? They may not own *any* bees themselves, but if that is
their primary source of income, if that is their job, they sure
aren't hobbyists.


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Peter Borst <[log in to unmask]>