310 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15. 



BEE-KEEPING IN CUBA. 



60,000 LBS. HONEY PEK YEAR, AND LOOKING 



TOWARD A QUARTER OF A MILLION; FOUL 



BROOD IN CUBA INCURABLE. 



By W. W. Somcrford. 



Mr. Root:— In your footnote, Jan. 15, to Mr. 

 Fred L. Craycraft's letter from Cuba, you say 

 some of your readers would perhaps like to 

 view some pictures of Cuban shed or house 

 apiaries. 



No. 1 is a picture of a part of the main shed 

 that covers Mr. A. W. Osburn's 700 hives that 



with his record-book of queens, for he believes 

 in keeping up with them closely, and breeding 

 queens only that " give results " in the way of 

 honey-gathering. Hanging from the plate of 

 the shed you will see scores of Miller feeders, 

 which are used to advantage during the rainy 

 season only. His honey-carts you will also see 

 in the main alley between the rows of hives. 

 The eaves of the shed come down so near the 

 ground, and guava-bushes grow up so thick 

 and close, that bees hardly ever sting a person 

 while working underthe roof, and are not much 

 inclined to rob. You may ask why the bush- 



FIG. 1.— A SHEDDED APIARY IN CUBA; A. W. OSBURX IN THE FOREGROUND. 



are all under one roof — twelve miles west of 

 Havana, near the little town of Puntabrava. 

 Fully 17,(X)0 square feet of tile and corrugated 

 iron roofing is required to cover the apiary, one 

 main shed running straight up the hill 300 ft., 

 crossed by two others of about the same length, 

 all opening into or joining the main shed, 

 thus makingall convenientlysituatedup the hill 

 from the honey -house and that big steam hon- 

 ey-extractor. 



Mr. Osburn uses a honey-cart that holds 7.5 or 

 more combs at a time, and it is a downhill pull 

 to his honey-house; so, hauling in his tons of 

 honey is only fun for his son Harry, who is an 

 expert in all the branches of the industry, hav- 

 ing been raised from childhood in an apiary, 

 and continually among the bees, for his father 

 has for years been one of the largest honey- 

 producers on the island, or anywhere else, for 

 that matter. His average crop is about 60.000 

 lbs. annually, which he intends, if honey goes 

 much lower, to increase to a "'quarter of a 

 million " per annum. 



You can, as usual, see Mr. O. at his desk. 



es are not cut away. Because they save honey, 

 or the consumption of honey, by keeping the 

 bees quiet during the long hot summer days, 

 which is very essential in hot climates; for 

 hives well shaded will have plenty of stores, 

 while those in the sun will be starving. 



Picture No. 2 is an interior view of the Casa- 

 nova apiary, situated 21 miles east of Havana, 

 and at present in charge of my brother, Fred O. 

 ISomerford, who has resided in Cuba over four 

 years, continually among the bees, and has 

 had, I presume, as much experience with foul 

 brood as anyone during the past four years, 

 never being without it, scarcely, during the 

 whole time. He, like Mr. Taylor, has conclud- 

 ed that it can be transmitted by foundation 

 made of foul-brood combs. 



Mr. A. W. Osburn, who has had varied ex- 

 periences with the disease in California as well 

 as in Cuba, thinks, like myself, that foul brood 

 in a hot climate, and in largti apiaries, is some- 

 thing too progressive for any remedy yet known 

 to the fraternity. I have, after reading all the 

 fossil works on the subject, and experimenting 



