SIO 



September, 191? 



American HQe Journal 





Office. KnrHEN. Bedroom. Parlor.. ICtc. of a Bachelor Cuban Bee-Keeper. 



Putting in a Batch of Queen-Cells-Mrs. T. R. Towns Officiating. 



Conditions in Cuba 



BV D. \V. MILLAR. 



FROM the accompanying photo- 

 graph you can see that all the 

 queens in Cuba do not live in 

 bee-hives. This puzzle picture 

 (pick out the two Americanos) 

 was taken near Finca Mayabe, near 

 Holguinin Oriente Province, where I 

 am locating a new apiary with 2-5U nu- 

 clei, and where I will rear all my 

 queens in the future on account of the 



exceptional advantages the neighbor- 

 hood affords. 



The location is in a very fertile val- 

 ley about 25 miles in length, extending 

 to Nipe Bay, and of which there is 

 always an abundance of natural flora. 

 In addition to this my bees will have 

 the 100 acres of orange and grape-fruit 

 groves and nursery of Mr. T. R. Towns, 

 one of the successful Americans in 

 Cuba, to work on. It is because of his 

 knowledge of the business, understand- 

 ing soils, conditions and natural ad- 

 vantages in Cuba, Mr. Towns is able to 



produce ripe fruit for shipment every 

 day in the year, and sells most of it 

 direct to the consumer in one-box lots 

 and up, bunching shipments regularly 

 to his New York agent for local distri- 

 bution. The tangerine and King or- 

 anges are sold here on the trees one 

 year in advance, and average from $5 

 to $10 per tree; 100 trees to the acre. 

 Mr. Towns raises all kinds of tropical 

 fruit and foliage plants, also hogs, 

 mules, and other live stock. 



Within a few miles of me is the 

 Chapara sugar mill, the largest in the 

 world. I am told this company will 

 grind over 1,000,000 bags of sugar in 

 Cuba this year. Some dulcet, hey! 

 There is also another very large mill at 

 Preston, near Nipe Bav. Its capacity 

 is 400,000 bags. A bag is 32-5 pounds; 

 market value, $10. 



Where hauling is necessary oxen are 

 still the best in the country districts, 

 and will be until we get some roads. 

 Our railroads are as good as could be 

 expected, and our shipping facilities 

 from seaboard to all the outside world 

 are unequaled. 



A very large acreage of fruit groves 

 has been planted in Cuba, and much of 

 it is in good bee-locations still unoccu- 

 pied ; but as most of the growers fol- 

 low their government reports and the 

 experiments made by fruit-men in other 

 countries, they appreciate the neces- 

 sity of bees for the better pollination 

 of their bees, and many who do not 

 care for the profit are placing a few 

 colonies in their groves for the good 

 they will do alone; but those who do 

 not care to go to the bother and ex- 

 pense of this are very willing that 

 others should. Therefore, good loca- 

 tions can easily be secured. 



Our little country is a very good one 

 for many things besides bees. It is 

 very rich, but just at present very poor 

 in money,.just having undergone a very 

 thorough picking and cleaning by the 

 retiring political party, but everything 

 that was too big to carry is still here, 

 and we now have a very able and good 

 President, and should enjoy a period 

 of very exceptional prosperity. 



Holguin, Cuba. 



Some Things About Cellar- 

 Wintering 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



(^Continued from Augusl number.) 



CELL.\R VENTILATION. 



WIDELY varying opinions hav 

 been held as to the importance 

 of ventilation for bees in eel-' 

 lar, and the amount of ventila- 

 tion needed by them. Some 

 claim they cannot have too much ven- 

 tilation, provided there is no draft; 

 some have claimed that they might be 

 hermetically sealed without detriment 

 The latter might be true provided theyl 

 could be kept constantly at that point ' 

 of temperature where they are prac- 

 tically dormant. But has that ever 



THE BEEWARE BRAND T^VShTnTI 



Send for Anntml Catnlo;; «liicli ^ill toll 

 you «"lio is your nenre.st distributer. 

 G. B. Lewis Company. AVaiertown. Wis. 



