In 1880, with limited technology and only wagons to use for transportation, William L. Coggshall was the biggest beehive owner in Ithaca, NY and probably the biggest beehive owner in the U.S., owning more than 4,000 beehives. This article describes the technology of beekeeping and on page 5 mentions William L. Coggshall’s hives in Ithaca, NY. The image above is from this August 21, 2020 Ithaca Journal article Successful Beekeeper in Tomkins County, Ithaca, NY.

Today, more than 150 years later, transportation and the beekeeping technology improved and helped beekeepers manage more hives. Today, the biggest beehive owner in the U.S. is Richard Adee of South Dakota whose Adee Farms LP now owns more than 82,000 beehives. Adee is followed by Stewart and Lynda Resnick’s Wonderful Co. in Central Valley, CA. The Wonderful Co. manages about 65,000 hives or 4.5 billion bees. In 2022, the U.S. had 2.67 million bee colonies producing honey. Only 5 big companies including Adee Farms LP and Wonderful Co control 88% of the honey production. The remaining 12% of honey is produced by small bee farmers around the country.

Only about 50,000,000 people lived in the US during William L. Coggshall’s time. The population increased drastically since Coggshall’s time and the 2020 U.S. census counted more than 341,000,000 people living in the U.S.