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aptitude as well as long study and research to become an expert bee keeper. Experts differ in their opinion respecting the relative value of hives, and rival manufacturers also do much in the way of advertising one or another of these contrivances. All of them that have merits are such as protect the bee, during the months when it is idle, from starvation and disease and afford it every possible facility for storing its treasures during the season of activity.

Distribution of the Honey-producing Industry.—Every part of the United States is suitable in some respects for the production of honey. Naturally the extreme northern portion, where the winters are very severe, are less favorable than the southern portion for two reasons, first, the difficulty of keeping the bees over the winter is greater in the North, and, second, the season of activity is much shorter. On the other hand the honey which is gathered from the northern flowers is, as a rule, more highly prized than that gathered from the more southern regions. California, perhaps, is the greatest honey-producing state in the Union, though portions of New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and many other states have developed great industries. It is very common also for the farmer to have a number of bee hives, particularly for storing honey for domestic consumption, so that the making of honey is almost as common on the farm as the making of butter.

Fig. 85.—A Frame Containing 24 Boxes of Honey.—(Courtesy A. I. Root Co.)

Comb Honey.—The honey which is produced in the hives and removed without extracting it from the comb is known as "comb honey." As indicated