Anderson there are also good opportunities for beekeepers. At an elevation of 2000 feet or more, tulip tree, basswood, and aster are the chief sources of nectar.

Another fairly good region for the production of honey is the central valley around Nashville, where most of the commercial apiaries in the state are located. As in the eastern valley of the Tennessee River, the honey plants are white clover, alsike clover, black locust, basswood, and aster. A few commercial apiaries contain 100 to 125 colonies; but a large number range from 25 to 75. As a rule, in the central section of the state it is not advisable to place more than 25 to 50 colonies in one yard, and the yards should be five miles apart. As the land is valuable, and in a high state of cultivation, few nectar-bearing weeds are permitted to grow. The surplus obtained in different years varies greatly. At Springhill, in the northern part of Maury County, in 1913, according to John M. Davis, it is doubtful if 500 colonies in one yard could have gathered all the nectar available; but since then on an average not one-fourth of a crop has been obtained, the season of 1919 being a complete failure. A bumper crop may be expected about once in ten years. Queen-rearing is much more profitable than honey production; and, owing to the unreliability of white clover, beekeeping should be combined with general farming or some other industry.

The Central Valley around Nashville is surrounded by the Highland Rim Plateau, which attains an altitude of 1200 to 1400 feet. This section produces very little clover; but there is an abundance of sourwood, tulip tree, aster, basswood, and black locust. The soils of this section are stony or clay loams, and the percentage of land in farms is much less than in the Nashville Basin. In Franklin, Lincoln, Bedford, and Marshall counties, in the south-central portion of the state, there are large areas of crimson clover, grown for seed, which yields heavily, while white clover and black locust are also abundant.

The Mississippi Slope comprises the gently rolling country between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers. There are cypress swamps along both these large rivers, and the sluggish mud-colored streams are bordered by lagoons and swampy land. In the cypress swamps and lowlands are found the swamp locust (Gleditsia monosperma), the gums (Nyssa sylvatica and N. aquatica), the mountain sweet pepperbush (Clethra acuminata), frequent in the mountains but rare in middle and west Tennessee; the American holly (Ilex opaca), the swamp holly (I. decidua), two species of buckthorn, and the rattan-vine (Berchemia scandens). Cotton is grown over a large part of the Slope, especially in the vicinity of the Mississippi, and yields the larger part of the surplus. Along the north border there is a dense area of tobacco; and boneset, aster, and white clover near Reelfoot Lake are abundant. Along the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers smartweed, bitterweed, goldenrod, and aster are good honey plants.

NORTH CAROLINA

Total area, 52,426 square miles. North Carolina, which extends from the coast 500 miles westward to the Appalachian Highlands, consists of three natural provinces: The Atlantic Coastal Plain, or Tidewater North Carolina, a low and nearly level sandy plain, also known as the “flatwoods”; the Piedmont Plateau, a central hilly section; and a series of mountain ranges in the west, which reach an altitude of over 6000 feet. The western and eastern sections of the state are best adapted to bee culture, and contain large areas of land that are not and probably never will be reclaimed. The middle portion of the state has been more largely cleared for agricultural purposes, and has a poorer honey flora.