134 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb 15 



of a standard and uniform grade, as is the case 

 with the alfalfa of Colorado, the sage of Cali- 

 fornia, and the basswood of Wisconsin. 

 Many of these, as well as some State exhibits, 

 will be of the present season's honey harvest, 

 and will not be installed before the middle of 

 July to the middle of August ; but applica- 

 tion for space should be made early, in order 

 that it may be provided. 



Apiculture is accorded a prominent place in 

 the exposition, and a special building, in an 

 excellent location, will be provided for the 

 apicultural exhibits, the extent and size of 

 which will be commensurate with the needs 

 and desires of the bee-keepers who will ex- 

 hibit. Mr. F. A. Converse, Superintendent of 

 live stock, dairy, and agricultural products, is 

 deeply interested in this imDortant branch of 

 rural husbandry, and the apiarists are most for- 

 tunate that their interests have fallen under 

 his excellent supervision. 



1106 D. S. Morgan Building, Buffalo, N. Y. 



GLIMPSES OF CUBA AND CUBAN BEE-KEEPING. 



BY A. L. BOYDEN. 



For some time past the readers of Glean- 

 ings have seen frequent articles by different 

 writers with reference to the state of bee-keep- 

 ing in Cuba. These articles have fired me 

 with a desire to visit that country, and see for 

 myself the conditions as they exist there, not 

 only with reference to bee keeping, but relat- 

 ing to other industries as well. 



Accordingly, on the morning of Dec. 20 the 

 steamer Curityba brought me in sight of Ma- 

 tanzas, 60 miles east of Havana, a beautiful 

 city of 75,000 inhabitants. I found very few 



BRIDGE AT MATANZAS. 



Americans in Matanzas, and experienced some 

 little difficulty the first day or two in making 

 my wants known. I soon found my way to 

 the store of Thos. D. Crews, formerly of Flor- 

 ida, now a merchant in that place, and he gave 

 me much valuable information. After visit- 

 ing him I took a stroll about the city. I first 

 went out on the roof of the hotel "Paris," 

 from which point I could see all of the city 

 and surrounding country very well indeed. A 

 great many of the buildings are provided with 



means of access to the roofs. The roofs are 

 made of brick or tile, mainly of the latter. I 

 found one of the railway stations, and the 

 yard adjoining, very similar to those in our 

 large cities of the Northern States. The 

 streets of the city are very narrow, though 

 not as narrow as those in Havana, and the 

 sidewalks are in proportion, being only eigh- 

 teen to twenty-four inches wide in many places. 

 The windows of the dwelling-houses, stores, 

 and hotels are tall and wide, with no glass, 

 but simply closed shutters or inside blinds, 

 which are folded back in the daytime. These 

 windows are all provided with grates or bars, 

 giving the buildings quite the appearance of a 

 jail or prison. Most of the houses are built 

 right up to the walk, there being no yard in 

 front at all, so one passing along the sidewalk 

 looks directly into the sitting-room or parlor 

 of these houses. 



The city lies at the intersection of two riv- 

 ers, and has several fine bridges. Toward the 

 west lies a series of hills which are very beau- 

 tiful. I found the streets well lighted with 

 electric lights, but the lighting of dwellings 

 and many public buildings is very inferior. 



I found no apiaries located near the city ; 

 but on going out to Ceiba Mocha, nine miles 

 distant, I found a number of Americans who 

 had recently embarked in this pursuit. Here 

 I found the apiary of Thos. D. Crews, also 

 that of \V. B. Cilley, and several others of 

 smaller beginnings. 



I am told that Ceiba Mocha, prior to the 

 late war, was a prosperous village of some 

 8000 people. Now it is said to contain 800 in- 

 habitants, though I could scarcely believe that 

 this number were to be found in the place. 

 Near the railway station is a typical Cuban 

 apiary of some 500 box hives. These hives 

 are made of four boards about 12x30 inches 

 long, nailed together, forming a tall box. The 

 ends are left entirely open. These boxes, in- 

 stead of standing on the end, which would 

 make them look somewhat like the old 

 " American " hive, are laid down on the side, 

 resting on blocks a few inches above the 

 ground or on low benches. The sight of these 

 hives, filled from end to end with combs, and 

 well covered by bees was enough to give a bee- 

 keeper a touch of the " bee-fever." 



I found that the surplus is obtained by cut- 

 ting out the combs of honey from each end, 

 perhaps one-third of the distance from the end 

 toward the center. The brood, naturally, is 

 in the center of the hive, so the combs in the 

 end contain very little brood as a rule. With 

 a smoker or p"ail of smoking wood the bees are 

 driven back from one end so that the combs 

 are cut out with very little difficulty from one 

 end, and later on they are cut from the oppo- 

 site end. 



In this apiary there is a sort of honey-house 

 in which I found a large trough hollowed out 

 of a log, and a press in which the honey is 

 pressed out of the combs. If theie is any 

 brood or pollen in the combs, that has to be 

 mashed up with the rest. No effort is made 

 in these box hive apiaries to put up a nice ar- 

 ticle of strained honey where extractors, of 

 course, are unknown. The honey is put up 



