Distribution of Bees in the United States
The accompanying map shows where the bees in the country are mainly located. It indicates also the extent of the business in different sections and gives some idea, by the number of dots on the map, of the most successful territory for beekeeping. Care must be taken in drawing conclusions of this kind, for a field or territory may be overpastured, as it were, by bees as well as by cattle. Bees, however, travel many miles. Large apiaries should not be too close together, at least 3 or 4 miles apart. Although the honey flows of the South do not equal those of the North in intensity, yet, as will be observed from the map, there are more bees in the Southern States than in any other part of the country. Bees in the South can be purchased at small cost, for they are not appreciated and are poorly equipped, being hived largely in boxes and “gums” which are of course unprofitable. They may be transferred to modern hives, after which they may be managed for extracted honey, which is the most profitable manner of handling bees in that section and the most effective way of avoiding swarming. The convenience of the modern hive and frame enables the increase of colonies by division.