We often hear how many hives there are in the USA. What nobody wants to say is that census figures are almost always probably wrong. This was a problem 100 years ago and it still is:

The census reports indicate for 1910 a total of 3,445,006
colonies, which, if accepted as representing the number on
farms, though it is certain that not all such were recorded,
may be taken to indicate in the hands of farmers and all
others certainly not less than 5,000,000 colonies, more probably
6,000,000, and possibly more. Leading commercial
honey authorities estimate the number to be much higher.

The production of honey in 1909, according to the same
authority, was approximately 55,000,000 pounds. That this
is far below the facts is certain. The average yields indicated
by the census reports are about 16 pounds in 1909
and about 15 pounds in 1900, whereas the average yields as
reported to the Bureau of Crop Estimates by honey producers
are about 40 pounds per colony. Only a little over
half the farms reporting bees gave any figures on honey
production to the census enumerators. The proportion that
actually produced no honey is unknown, but the , actual
yields per colony on farms must have been considerably
higher than those indicated by these imperfect returns to
the census enumerators. The honey producers' reports are
more nearly representative of the commercial producer,
who often, and probably as a rule, is not a farmer, and it
may be safely assumed that the average production per
colony of bees not belonging to farmers is considerably,
higher than of those belonging to farmers. If the most
probable figure mentioned, 6,000,000 colonies, be accepted as
representing all colonies of bees in the United States and the
average yield be considered as 25 pounds, which appears
conservative, this would account for a total production of
150,000,000 pounds of honey.

Compare this to:

> There are an estimated 115,000 – 125,000 beekeepers in the United States.1  The vast majority are hobbyists with less than 25 hives.  Commercial beekeepers are those with 300 or more hives.  The number of U.S. honey bee colonies producing honey in 2013 was 2.64 million (based on beekeepers who manage five or more colonies). Honey production in 2013 from producers with five or more colonies totaled 149 million pounds, up 5 percent from 2012. 

* * *

Again, the figures are flawed. When the government stopped counting holders with less than five hives, the number slipped by almost a million. What is interesting is that the estimate for honey production is almost the same from 1910 to 2012.

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