Regional Differences within the United States 209 
pends on the number of crops of alfalfa that are harvested 
in a season. This region is steadily increasing in importance, 
and a market is rapidly being built up for alfalfa honey. 
In this region, honey-production is conducted chiefly by 
extensive beekeepers. 
(3) The south-eastern region, which varies greatly in the 
sources of honey throughout its extent, and which is an 
area of abundant rainfall, lies south of the white clover 
region and extends west to eastern Texas. The various 
rather distinct subdivisions of this territory might well be 
placed among the restricted honey regions, except that 
certain things in common in the honey-flows make the same 
type of manipulations necessary. Among the important 
plants of this district are sourwood, cotton, tulip poplar, 
tupelo, manchineel, mangrove, titi, palmettos, citrus trees, 
gallberry and partridge pea, with nectar from clovers in 
some sections in favorable seasons. Sweet clover is valu¬ 
able in some localities. Most of the honeys are amber, 
and the chief characteristic of this region is a succession of 
honey-flows, often intergrading. The honey-flows are usually 
not rapid. This region is therefore best adapted to extracted- 
honey production. Swarming is much less troublesome 
than in the North. Beekeeping is developing in this region, 
but there is opportunity for many more beekeepers, there 
being now relatively few who rank as professionals. Colonies 
of bees may usually be bought at low prices in box-hives. 
This region is perhaps the best in the United States for 
commercial queen-rearing, except in parts of Florida where 
dragon flies are troublesome. 
The diversity of conditions in this region is well shown 
in the accompanying map (Fig. 95), which was prepared by 
E. G. Baldwin, De Land, Florida, who has studied the bee¬ 
keeping possibilities of his State quite thoroughly. It 
will be seen that the sources of nectar are quite distinct 
geographically. The geographical position of this State 
and the diversity of soil and climatic conditions strongly 
influence the growth of the honey plants. In this State 
p 
