October, 1916. 



American ;Bgc Jonrnal^y^^-^^yi^ j 



nearly full, it is a heavy job to lift 

 all the supers to the ground and later 

 replace them again. One picture 

 shows the cart with the derrick laid 

 down when the cart is used as an 

 ordinary hive cart. In the second 

 picture the derrick is raised so that 

 by means of a crank the upper super 

 can be lifted clear of the hive and al- 

 lowed to hang while the next super 

 is examined. If more than one super 

 is to be removed for examination 

 such as are necessary are slipped onto 

 the floor of the cart while those be- 

 low are removed. The derrick works 

 easily and the clamp which holds on 

 the principle of the ice tongs holds a 

 full or empty super with safety. 



While the work of removal and re- 

 placing the supers by this means is 

 somewhat slower than when the oper- 

 ation is performed by mere physical 

 labor, it is possible to handle the 

 heaviest colonies with little strain on 

 the operator. A frail woman or a boy 

 can readily exert sufficient force to 

 remove a full super, swing it into the 

 cart, lift the next one into the air and 

 examine the one beneatl. when 

 necessary. 



As will be seen in the illustration 

 the wheels are well under the back 

 of the cart, thus furnishing a sub- 

 stantial support for the derrick when 

 in use. The derrick is supported so 

 that the hive swings just clear of the 

 back of the cart in lifting but yet 

 will readily swing over when desired 

 to place it on the cart. A single hive 

 can readily be lifted from the ground 

 or the top super of a five story hive 

 can easily be removed. 



The floor of the cart is just right 

 for six ten frame supers so that 

 twelve empties can be hauled at one 

 time. Four or five full supers make 

 a pretty good load since it is difficult 

 to push a heavier load over uneven 



ground. 



We believe that those of our readers 

 who think the full supers too heavy 

 for them, will find a cart of this kind 

 of much assistance. 



A West India Ramble 



BY W. J. YOUNG. 



Although the American Bee Journal 

 is published for the interests of 

 the American beekeeper, a few 

 words descriptive of conditions as 

 they exist in the West Indies and 

 other tropical countries will probibly 

 interest the reader who is located in 

 the U. S. 



For twelve years in Porto Rico the 

 writer was engaged in the production 

 of honey, and where have the twelve 

 years gone? 



I landed there in 1904 and started 

 out with a very poor idea as to future 

 prospects. Could see no one from 

 whom to ask advice as no one was 

 making the production of honey a 

 business. 



I located at first near the south 

 coast close to Ponce, where the bees 

 do not do much. From there I moved 

 to the interior where the bees breed 

 up and bring in honey with wonder- 

 ful rapidity. The only visible source 

 of honey is wild forest growth. The 

 country when in virgin forest must 

 have been a beekeeper's paradise. 



For eight years my annual average 

 crop was thirty thousand pounds, from 

 not over 150 hives. I thought it was 

 a permanent thing but was doomed to 

 disappointment. 



In 1913 the natives got the bee fev- 

 er and tumbled over themselves to 

 get into it. The country became over- 

 stocked. I had a chance to sell out 

 which I did. Better to say lost out. 



THE PELLETT HIVE-CART WITH LOAD OF EMPTY SUPERS 



I had been run out of business the 

 same way, In Cuba, before locating in 

 P. R. 



I had built a good house and did not 

 like leaving it, but it would have been 

 up-hill work to have stayed, with over 

 NOO hives of bees within short range. 



Not only was tropical apiculture a 

 pleasant occupation, but the salu- 

 brious climate, beautiful mountain 

 scenery green with vegetation and the 

 mountain streams, always running 

 with pure clear water, were attrac- 

 tions not soon to be forgotten. 



Then there was the ocean only ten 

 miles distant and accessible by a good 

 road. A bath in the sea is nice, but 

 better still a fresh water stream in 

 which the bather can soap off and 

 rinse off with the water and atmos- 

 phere at just about the right tempera- 

 ture. The extensively advertised por- 

 celain tubs with a complete system of 

 plumbing are a luxury, but for me the 

 mountain stream is far more luxuri- 

 ous. 



The reader may think that crack- 

 ing up Porto Rico like this is a real- 

 estate boost, but It is nothing of the 

 kind. There are advantages besides 

 climate, scenery, and good water, that 

 do not exist in P. R. For English- 

 speaking people who want to live 

 where are the ordinary necessaries of 

 lite, any Latin country, even if it is 

 under the American flag, is a good 

 place to keep away from. 



But this is not talking bees, or West 

 India ramble. I took the train at 

 Arecibo which is in the north coast, 

 and traveled a distance of fifty miles 

 to Mayaguez, there to take the steamer 

 for Cuba. In many places the rail- 

 road is as near to the ocean as is the 

 Southern Pacific in the vicinity of 

 Santa Barbara, California, and lots of 

 beautiful scenery, this time mountain 

 and ocean. It is on the north-west 

 corner of the island that the moun- 

 tains are close to the sea, and build- 

 ing the road through this section was 

 a difficult and expensive piece of 

 work. In places the tracks are that 

 near the sea that they have to be pro- 

 tected by a concrete wall, and then 

 the road climbs up until the ocean is 

 several hundred feet below. There 

 are two tunnels one of which is at 

 least a fourth of a mile in length. 



The country in the vicinity of May- 

 aguez is overstocked with bees to a 

 greater extent than anywhere else on 

 the island. Healy & Seibert at this 

 place are doing an extensive business 

 in buying honey and selling bee sup- 

 plies. 



On Dec. 6th I took the steamer for 

 Santiago, Cuba, and for unpleasant- 

 ness it was an experience long to be 

 remembered. Anyone who is unac- 

 customed to sea travel would think 

 that out on the ocean the atmosphere 

 would be cooler, and the air fresher, 

 but in the tropics the reverse is the 

 case, unless out on deck and on the 

 windward side of the ship. WTi?n in 

 the cabin or outside when there is no 

 breeze blowing, the heat, bad air and 

 disagreeable smells are more the 

 cause of sea sickness than the motion 

 of the boat. The ship was an old 

 Spanish tub on which the first class 

 fare was far inferior to second class 



