l just bought a Ruger #1S in 218 Bee and had never seen this round cataloged in this model of #1.l was wondering how many were produced and when?PS.It is a lovely shooter, but the price of ammunition is ugly.

the 218 bee was a competator with the 22 hornet. The 218 bee was designed to be fired out of lever actions, & it was actually a little bit faster than the 22 hornet.

It came out in the late 1930's, but not a lot of people were looking for small caliber fast shooting 22 lever actions.they wanted bolt guns. Eventually winchester offered it in their model 70, but right after that the 222 came out, & that was a bit faster than the 218 bee, so pretty much everyone switched to that

winchester still makes limited runs of ammo from time to time
http://cheaperthandirt.com/65136-5.html

Note it is kind of expensive, BUT, it is a box of 50.

all sorts of ammo has gotten more expensive

They are out there and l am sorry that l never bought one!

l have it on my list of ''must have rifles''; l want a Ruger No. 1 in 22 Hornet and another in 218 Bee.

l used to own a vintage Winchester Model 43 in 218 Bee. It is was a great little groundhog buster out to 150 yards. l still have the loading dies for it and the bullets are the same as for the 22 Hornet.