Regional Differences within the United States 213 



alfalfa region is a man-made honey region. These factors, 

 many of which are due to human interference with the natural 

 environment, must be considered in choosing locations of 

 apiaries and in manipulating colonies. 



Climatic influences may change an area from year to 

 year. A lack of sufficient rainfall, for example, may kill 

 white clover in certain areas and not in others. This occurred 

 during 1914, when a severe drought killed clover over much 

 of Illinois, while an abundance of rain fell in northern por- 

 tions of the State, there being marked differences in localities 

 only a few miles apart. 



DISTRIBUTION OF BEES IN THE UNITED STATES 



The relative importance of the various honey regions is 

 indicated by the number of colonies of bees found in each 

 one, although care must be exercised in examining these 

 data to avoid misinterpretation. The only source of informa- 

 tion on this subject is the United States Census, and the 

 data from this source are not complete. However, while 

 the number of colonies reported is far too low, it may per- 

 haps be assumed that approximately the same percentage 

 is omitted throughout the United States. The accompany- 

 ing map (Fig. 96) was prepared in the Bureau of Crop Esti- 

 mates of the Department of Agriculture from data furnished 

 by the Census of 1910 and the author is indebted to this 

 Bureau for permission to use it here. In this map will be 

 found a dot for each county where bees are kept, the size 

 of the dot being proportionate to the number of colonies 

 reported. 



In the white clover region, it is evident that the more 

 northern localities are most thoroughly stocked with bees. 

 In the alfalfa region bees are less abundant, and this is true 

 also in the sage region. The amount of honey produced in 

 these regions is far below that of the moist regions of the 

 country, but the honey goes to market in large shipments, 

 because of the larger number of specialist beekeepers, and 



