206 
Beekeeping 
the business of honey-production and guides the beekeeper 
in choosing suitable locations for his apiaries. 
Variation in intensity of honey-flows. 
In general, the nectar-flows increase in rapidity or intensity 
as one goes northward and with this rapidity in the honey- 
flow usually comes a shortening of the period during which 
nectar is secreted. As a rule, the northern honeys are lighter 
in color, although there are many exceptions which will be 
pointed out later. In the more northern localities, the 
beginning and end of the honey-flows are usually sharply 
marked, while in the South there is a gradual increase in the 
honey-flow to the maximum and a correspondingly gradual 
cessation of the honey-flow. 
Variation in the value of plants. 
There is a striking difference in the value, from a beekeep¬ 
er’s standpoint, of plants according to locality, and the causes 
of these phenomena are in most cases not understood. A 
few of the more striking examples will serve to illustrate 
this variation. White clover yields nectar most abundantly 
in the northern range of this plant, while farther south the 
flow of nectar from this plant is less intense and the honey is 
often somewhat darker. Alfalfa yields nectar freely in 
the irrigated districts of the West, but is usually of no value 
to the beekeeper east of the Mississippi River. Buck¬ 
wheat is the source of large honey crops in parts of southern 
New York and Pennsylvania, while in Indiana and Illinois 
it secretes much less nectar, again increasing in value to the 
beekeeper in Michigan. Exceptions to these general state¬ 
ments sometimes arise because of abnormal climatic condi¬ 
tions. For example, a heavy honey-flow from alfalfa was 
recently obtained in the vicinity of Syracuse, New York. 
This was probably not due to the plants becoming accli¬ 
mated but occurred in a dry season. In some seasons white 
clover yields well much farther south than the limits pre¬ 
viously given. Other examples are given later. 
