mean annual temperature is about 68 degrees, and the Satsuma orange grows without protection. This region has been called the poorest section of the state for beekeeping; but the observations of R. B. Willson convinced him that anywhere along the larger streams in this region commercial honey production could be carried on with decided success. The honey is generally of fine quality and flavor, and much of it is from light amber to amber in color.

Climatic conditions in this section are ideal for living, except for the severe Gulf storms which come perhaps once in seven or eight years, and for hordes of mosquitoes which infest the coast whenever a southwest wind blows from the marshes along Lake Ponchartrain in the very early spring. There is no foul brood along the Gulf Coast, and roads are good and the land cheap. At Biloxi, on the shore of the gulf, the largest apiary numbers 25 colonies. Forty to sixty pounds of honey are at times stored by strong colonies; but the average is about 25 to 30 pounds. The surplus honey is gathered from gallberry, gum trees, and blackberry.

The following plants are known to yield a surplus: Bitterweed (Helenium te-nuifolium), white tupelo (Nyssa aquatica), black gum (Nyssa biflora), sweet clover (Melilotus alba), gallberry (Ilex glabra), holly (Ilex opaca), rattan-vine (Berchemia scandens), tulip tree (Liriodendron Tulipifera), partridge-pea (Chamaechrista fasciculate), basswood (Tilia pubescens), Spanish needles (Bidens aristosa).

More or less surplus is also obtained from the following species: Sumac (Rhus glabra), black willow (Salix nigra), white clover (Trifolium repens), persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), bush tupelo (Nyssa acuminata), scrub palmetto (Sabal megacarpa), sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), swamp gallberry (Ilex lucida).

Less important honey plants often visited by bees: Horsemint (Monarda punctata), haw (Crataegus spp.), mallow (Hibiscus moschatus), redbud (Cersis canadensis), buckthorn (Rhamnus lanceolata), spindle tree (Euonymus americanus). Ogeche plum (Nyssa ogeche), black alder (Ilex verticillata), white titi (Cyrilla racemiflora), brunnichia (Brunnichia cirrhosa).

The species of Nyssa are widely distributed throughout the state. Holly (Ilex opaca) occurs locally; but gallberry (I. glabra) and swamp gallberry (I. lucida) are found generally south of latitude 32 degrees. Black locust is found locally, scattered throughout the northern and southwestern part of the state. Willow grows chiefly along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. The Rubus group occurs in all parts of the state. Sweet clover is confined chiefly to the northeast prairie, although found to a small extent in the Delta and on the loess formation south of the Delta. Basswood is found largely in the counties along the Mississippi River, through Bolivar County, in the southern part of which there is a thick growth.

LOUISIANA

Total area, 48,500 square miles, of which 3000 square miles are water surface. According to their elevation and origin, Louisiana may be divided into lowlands and uplands; but no part of the state has an altitude of more than 500 feet, and the average elevation is less than 75 feet. Each of the larger streams, as the Mississippi River, the Red River, and their tributaries, flows through a belt of bottomland liable to overflow at times of high water. These alluvial bottom-lands occupy nearly one-third of the state and include the territory best adapted to bee culture. Along the coast there is a low swampy region traversed by slight ridges which extends inland from 20 to 60 miles. The coast swamps and the bottom-lands along the rivers comprise about 20,000 square miles, or nearly one-half of the total area of the state. The remainder consists of uplands of prairie and forest occupying the northern and northwestern portions of the state and a small area south of the