Regional Differences within the United States 215 
as a result these crops are important in determining the 
wholesale price of honey. 
The enormous number of colonies in the southern States 
is a surprise. In the fifteen States usually included in the 
division of southern States are found forty-five per cent of all 
the colonies in the United States. In this region the box- 
hive and the farmer-beekeeper are still found in large num¬ 
bers, there being few specialists except in Texas. Because 
the industry has not developed on modern lines, most of 
the honey from the South does not reach the larger centers 
of distribution, and it therefore has little influence on the 
wholesale honey markets. The number of colonies of bees 
found in the South is proof of the wonderful opportunities 
for the development of the industry, for many of these colo¬ 
nies are given no attention. As one beekeeper expresses 
it, these bees would die, if they could, to escape the ill-treat¬ 
ment to which they are subjected, but the environment is 
so favorable that they increase in spite of mismanagement. 
Attention should also be called to the larger number of 
colonies in southern New York and northern Pennsylvania, 
where buckwheat is plentiful. The other restricted honey 
regions seem to have less influence on the number of colonies. 
This map will repay considerable study in connection 
with other phases of beekeeping. To one familiar with 
the distribution of the diseases of the brood of bees in the 
United States 1 it is clear that there has been a severe loss 
from this cause, as indicated by the smaller dots in regions 
where diseases are most prevalent. New England was 
formerly well stocked with bees, but many colonies have been 
destroyed by disease. Certain areas in Pennsylvania, Ohio 
and Indiana, where disease is abundant, are inadequately 
provided with bees. One important reason for the larger 
number of colonies in the South is probably the scarcity of 
disease. 
1 Phillips, E. F., 1911. The occurrence of bee diseases in the United 
States (Preliminary report). Circular No. 138, Bureau of Entomology, 
25 pp. 
