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 
