Little section honey is produced. Preparing bees for winter requires little work. The problem is to have ample stores of honey and pollen in the colony in the fall. This is necessary for the strong colonies needed in the early spring for package bee production or the early honey flows. Colonies benefit from shade during the summer in the Southeast, and shade is essential in the southern part for maximum colony production.
Colonies are wintered and operated similarly to colonies in the north-central region.
Shade is not generally necessary, although partial or thorough shading during extremely hot midsummer days is beneficial. Some of the highest production per colony is obtained in the plains region. One reason is that the sweet- clover and alfalfa fields are relatively large and can support many colonies, and many of the apiaries belong to commercial beekeepers. Colonies are used to a limited extent in the pollination of alfalfa, sweet clover, and cucumbers. From this region westward to the Pacific, where migratory beekeeping is practiced to a greater ex tent than elsewhere, the California-style top and bottom rather than the telescoping top and reversible bottom are used, as they permit better stacking of colonies on trucks.