of beekeepers’ supplies in the world. Had it not been for the great abundance of basswood near Medina in 1870, The A. I. Root Company would probably never have come into existence. There was then always a certainty of a surplus from clover or basswood. Even without basswood The A. I. Root Company produced from about 600 colonies nearly three carloads of honey in 1924.

The counties in the southeastern section of the state, as Belmont, Monroe, Noble, Morgan, and Athens, have several thousand colonies of bees. Over the limestone, fertile clay soils prevail, while over the sandstone there are poorer sandy soils in this section. A part of this area is so hilly and rocky that it is unsuitable for tillage. In the extreme south-central part of the state there are many small apiaries, but the average surplus per colony is small. The honey plants are the clovers, sumac, basswood, tulip tree, locust, redbud, and aster.

In the southwest corner around Cincinnati the limestone rocks are overlaid by a thick layer of glacial drift, which is thinly covered with a moderately fertile silty soil. White clover and alsike clover are abundant; and, while there are few commercial apiaries, there are many small yards, from which the average yields are small. According to a local apiarist there are only fair opportunities in this region.

In the production of honey Ohio ranks about with Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Illinois, but lower than the states of New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The soils of Ohio very generally lack lime; and in consequence the growth of the clovers is retarded. Sweet clover, owing to the recommendations of the county agents and extension specialists, is rapidly increasing in many portions of the state. Reese says there are approximately one hundred and fifty thousand acres in the northwestern part of the state alone, and that it is improving beekeeping conditions even in the northeastern section where lime is being put into the soil.

MICHIGAN

Total area, 57,980 square miles. Michigan is situated amid the Great Lakes, and is divided by the Mackinac Straits into two natural provinces, the Upper and Lower peninsulas. The larger portion of the Lower Peninsula lies between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan; the Upper Peninsula is bounded on the north by Lake Superior and on the south by the state of Wisconsin and lakes Michigan and Huron. The effect of the great bodies of water on the climate is very marked. During the winter the temperature of the lakes falls to the freezing-point, or below it, and in the spring the development of vegetation along the shores is retarded and thus escapes the injurious effects of cold eastern waves. In the fall the water, which has become moderately warm during the summer, keeps the lake shores free from frosts until late in the season. The temperature is much more equable than in the states west of Lake Michigan. During the summer the shores of the lakes are comparatively cool and are the resort of thousands of tourists. The mean annual temperature of the Southern Peninsula is forty-six degrees, and of the Northern Peninsula forty-two degrees. The average temperature from June to September inclusive in the Northern Peninsula is about sixty degrees, so that conditions are favorable for the growth of crops. In the northern part of the Southern Peninsula frosts do not, as a rule, occur later than May 15, nor earlier than September 30, although there may be a frost on the high elevations any month during the summer. In the Northern Peninsula frosts may also occur in the interior during any summer month, but they are rare along the lake shores.

The rainfall in the Northern Peninsula averages about 34 inches, a large part of it coming during the growing season. There is an exceedingly heavy snowfall in the western part of the Peninsula. The average annual rainfall in the Southern