I88r, 



GL7i:Axryns in bee culture. 



23 



telling you, at such times I would stop alto- 

 getlier, or else exi)lain to your employer that 

 you don't feel able to do your accustomed 

 work, but that, if he wislies, you will stay 

 and look after things as well as you can. at 

 reduced wages. Yevy likely he will tell you, 

 if you are much needed, to go on and do as 

 well as you can. and it will be all right about 

 the wages. This I know, he will thank you 

 in his heart, if he does not say so. I recom- 

 mend tliese explanations, because without 

 them appearances might count against you ; 

 and in all this, dear friends, we want to ac- 

 cept the Bible maxim, and shun every 

 (i/pYjcamnce of evil. 



Sjxtponth i/;?jf.— Be careful how.you make 

 free with the property of the establishment, 

 without permission. Sometimes we get a 

 new liand who straightway helps himself to 

 matches, soap, towels, etc.. without asking 

 anybody. After awhile he gftes into the 

 stdre and takes tin cups and tin pails and 

 the like, and always leaves tliem where he 

 last used them— out in the lots, perhaps. 

 When the weather gets severely cold I often 

 hnd tiiei niomelers hung up on" the outside 

 of the different i)arts of the l)uilding. Tliese 

 are put out, doubtl* ss. to register the tem- 

 peralure. Tiiere tliey iiang until I see them 

 and put them back in their places, or until 

 they an^ spoiled by rust and exposure. All 

 these things niigli'l have been well enough 

 had pernii^siun Itten grante<l to use them in 

 this way ; l)ut where ni;iny iiands are employ- 

 ed, the one who makes himself free in this 

 way, or is guilty of such lil)erties, is out of 

 a jol) sjieedily." Make it a point to get per- 

 mission b( lore borrowing or using anotiier 

 persons i)roi)erty. 



Now, fiiends." in these remarks I may 

 have erred in judgment, and may he tliere 

 are other sides to niany of the questions. 

 But most of YOU liave wanted to know how 

 you can improve yoiu- daily wages. With 

 the experience of years before me. I have 

 tried to tell >ou as well as I can how you 

 may help yourself, and help those you "are 

 working for. at one and the same time. 



sun. 



BEE CULTURE IN CUBA. 



•'IT IS NOT .\I,I, (iOLI) TH.AT (U.ITTKIfS. ' 



RIEND 1{()<)T:-Tlie aliove is true of ('iil)ii; 

 ttioiijrh a kind Providence bus smiled upon 

 this country in more ways than one, yet it 

 has its dark side, a side that is bleak and 

 trloomy, amid the frlare of a noonday tropical 

 How can this lie? Voti sluill know. 

 A little more tlian one year afro we landed here 

 with 100 colonies of liees; owing- to circumstances 

 that we could not control, Christmas found us with 

 only ;:4 of the 10.) colonies left. The dth of .lanuary 

 our llrst island-tired (jueen liejfan to la.\'; Irouithat 

 time until the 11th of .Vpril, honey came in rapidly; 

 and as increase was the end desired, all energies 

 and means available were devoted to accomplish 

 our purpose, and JuneGOfound us with 5-0 colonies. 

 But, alas: " vaultiuK ambition had o'erleaped itself," 

 and our increase was stopped only upon the eve of 

 a four-months' dearth of honey (I see the smile that 

 covers your face now), and 1 rc^peat the old adag-c 

 ''Those laugh heartiest who laugh last." We had 

 our litugli when prosperity smiled and kept smiling 



upon us; but the day came, when, beneath a tropi- 

 cal noonday sun, the sharp shrill sound of the rob- 

 ber was all we heard. "Devastation and destruction" 

 stalked abroad under this noonday sun, laying waste 

 the hopes that we had stood upon for the last six 

 months. 



After the robber, came the moth; and with 5::0 

 colonies, all weak, and no honey coming in from the 

 fields, to carry them through to the first of Novem- 

 ber was no small task. You ask, why did we make 

 such an unheard-of increase? First, increase was 

 what we wanted, and, urged on by the reports of 

 native bee-keepers, that in August there was a good 

 honey-How, and in September the fail flowers began 

 to bloom, we thought we could not well go wrong, 

 and that there was really no limit to what bees 

 would do in Cuba. 

 j But, this has been our first year, and experience 

 1 has taught us a lesson that has come to stay. The 

 honey-flow in August did not come; September 

 flowers failed to yield honey; October passed, and 

 I still the robber sought that which was not his own. 

 ' But with the advent of November, the royal palm 

 came to the relief of the hungry millions, and peace 

 and plenty took the place of discontent, dishonesty, 

 ; and death. We are on the road to prosperity now, 

 j but with many hives that are empty; every day 

 ; brings us good cheer, and more of it. But, friend 

 I Hoot, this experience we hnd to have; no one could 

 I tell us about it, for they did not know this is the 

 j only apiary run upon the improved i)lan. What 

 j bees arc kept are kept in log gums, and what do the 

 keepers know about the honey-flow? They say 

 I they think that such and such is the ca.sc, but they 

 ; have not the means of knowing the condition of 

 their bees, or the amouut of honey coming in, only 

 , when in the winter the bees get their rudely built 

 hives full, and build comi) upon the outside, then 

 they know that honey is coming in fast, and there 

 I their knowledge of bee-keeping ends. 

 j There are more things to learn about modern bee- 

 keeping in ( uba, than to be able to tell exactly 

 j when the How and when the dearth of honey comes. 

 I Here, as you know, the best surplus season comes 

 I in the winter, and it is winter with the bees. Al- 

 j though it is warm, plenty of flowers and honey, the 

 nature of the liee is not materially changed; the 

 , queens lay about one-half what they do in the 

 spring montlis, either here or in the North; they 

 J make no preparations for swarming, they seal uj) 

 every airhole on the top of the frames, just as in 

 I the North, and all their calculations scent to point 

 ! in the direction of a season of rest and a winter's 

 j nap; but the winter, with all the severity of the 

 North, does not come (yet it is cold here, quite chil- 

 ly, but it does not freeze); the sun shines warm in 

 the middle of the day. the flowers bloom, and, in- 

 [ stead of " hibernating, " the bees gather honey. But 

 i I think it is unnatural, and here comes in otir of the 

 great difficulties in Cuban bee-keeping; that is, in 

 getting your colonies in proper conditioJi to store 

 I honey at this unnatural time of the year. They art- 

 cross, they are matl; they don't want to be bothere<l; 

 they want to be let alone; they want to sleep; they 

 want to hibernate. They are apt to supersede their 

 queens if you bother them, and every thing goes to 

 show the close observer, that gathering honey and 

 breeding in the winter is not as nature has design- 

 ed it for the honey-bee. Bee-keeping in Cuba has 

 many its and amis to it, yet I do not say that it will 

 not eventually be a success; but. one thing is sure; 



