26 



THE CUBA REVIEW. 



AGRICULTURAL MATTERS. 



Cuban apiaiy, with common box hives, covered with the sheath of the palm tree to shed the rain. 



Un colmenar cubano hecho de colmenas comunes, en forma de caja, cubiertas con hojas de 



pahnera para derramar la lluvia. 



Bee-Keeping in Cuba.* 



By Frank Reiman, Cauto, Cuba. 

 I believe there is no other country in 

 the world where the output of honey 

 has decreased as it has in Cuba. When 

 the Spaniards and Cubans alike were 

 depredating Cuba and eating up the cat- 

 tle, it was a glorious time for the bee- 

 keeper; but now Cuba is being again 

 well stocked with cattle, and the best 

 honey-plant, campanilla, or bellflower 

 (resembling the white morning-glory of 

 the United States), is being torn up by 

 the cattle or cut down by the machete 

 of the Cuban because the cattle do not 

 eat it. In Manzanillo the exports have 

 declined from 5,000 barrels of 50 gallons 

 each to 2,000 barrels last year. This 



year, I am confident, the exports will 

 not reach 1,000 barrels. 



The destruction of the timber has 

 caused great drouth in the summer or 

 wet season, and nearly all the streams 

 go dry. Three-fourths of Cuba is now 

 cleared, and the remainder is going very 

 fast. Where there are no woods there 

 is not enough honey to keep the bees 

 living and they will starve. All the 

 large apiaries in Havana Province are 

 dead now, and Pinar del Rio is fast 

 diminishing. This province, Oriente, has 

 still plenty of timber, and by locating 

 along a stream where the bees can al- 

 ways get water, we can not help doing 

 well. 



There are still plenty of good loca- 

 tions, but it is necessary to buy all the 



* El autor del articulo sobre la Cria de las Abejas en Cuba, que aparece en esta pagina, dice que 

 cuando los cubanos y espaiioles estaban devastando a Cuba y consumiendo el ganado que habia en la 

 Isla era una epoca niagnifica para dedicarse al comercio de la miel, pero que ahora abunda el 

 ganado y que la mejor planta para las abejas, 6 sea la planta llamada campanilla, es destruida per 

 el ganado 6 cortada por los cubanos a catisa de que el ganado no la come. _ La destruccion de los 

 bosques, que continua sin cesar, dara por resultado la destruccion de las abejas por falta de plantas 

 con que alimentarse. Asimismo dice oue en ningun otro pais del mundo ha disminuido tanto el 

 abasto de la miel de abejas como en Cuba. 



