1901 



GIvEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



135 



in tierces of about 100 gallons, loaded on to 

 two-wheeled ox-carts, and hauled to the near- 

 est market. I took a snap-shot of this yard, 

 but, unfortunately, the tropical vegetation was 

 so heavy that the picture does not show the 

 hives sufficiently clear to reproduce. 



Near the apiary of Mr. Crews, which is man- 

 aged by Mr. Frierson, is another large box- 

 hive yard. In company with several Ameri- 

 can bee-keepers, some of whom could speak 

 Spanish, we visited this yard, wanting to get 

 another picture to show the readers of Glean- 

 ings. The same conditions existed here — a 

 verv heavy foliage— and I secured no picture 

 sufficiently good to half-tone. I had quite an 

 amusing experience, however, in trying to get 

 this picture. My interpreter told our Cuban 

 friend what I desired, and he gave his consent 

 to have me photograph the yard. It appears 

 that he did not understand the matter very 

 well, and when I went to the lower end of the 

 yard to snap my kodak he came rushing up, 

 gesticulating wildly and talking vociferously. 

 The bees were getting roused up at this point; 

 and as I did not understand his Spanish I con- 

 cluded that he was afraid I would get stung. 

 Being a bee keeper myself, I determined to 

 take my chances, and so held my ground un- 

 til I had made two exposures (both failures, 

 however), and then went back to the upper 

 end of the yard where the rest of the company 

 were. When I got there I found I had offend- 

 ed this man very much indeed, for he thought 

 I had come with some sort of music-box to 

 entice his bees away. It is reported that he 

 lost a large number a year or two ago in the 

 same way, and he is very suspicious of any 

 thing he does not understand now. We tried 

 t ) explain the matter to him, but did not suc- 

 ceed in pacifying him. 



I found a large amount of honey is shipped 

 from Matanzas every year. The production 

 of strained honey naturally results in a large 

 accumulation of wax, and these box-hive men 

 are reported to receive about as much for 

 their wax as they do for their honey. 



In our next issue I will give a view of In- 

 dependence Street, in Cardenas, and how I 

 spent Christmas with the mosquitoes. 



Medina, O., Feb. 10. 



CUBA. 



Locations; Climate; Social Life, etc. 



BY HARRY HOWE. 



Very frequently I am asked by bee-keepers 

 in regard to locating in Cuba. In my opinion 

 Cuba is the place to raise honey ; but one 

 must expect to put up with things that he 

 would not in the States. If I were not sure 

 that Cuba is all right I would not be making 

 contracts for years ahead, as I am in renting 

 locations, etc. There are, however, several 

 reasons why I always advise my correspon- 

 dents not to come. First, one can not do a 

 thing until he can speak the language. A 

 bee-keeper must of necessity locate at some 

 distance from the places where he could have 



American neighbors, for all of those places are 

 already overstocked with bees. Besides, one 

 does not like to depend on some neighbor to 

 do all of his business for some months. So if 

 one wants to come here he must either learn 

 the language first, or get a place with some 

 other American while he is learning it. The 

 chances for that are not very good, for all of 

 us have a waiting list of considerable length, 

 to say nothing ot always having some person- 

 al friend in view for the next opening. 



There are several chances to work for Cu- 

 bans, but one must know Spanish. 



Then there is the climate. While the win- 

 ters are fine, the summers are not. Men from 

 Texas or Florida, for instance, get along pret- 

 ty well with it, but men from the North are apt 

 to have a hard time the first summer. I got 

 it so bad I had to go to New York and lie up 

 in a hospital several weeks (this from " bicycle 

 heart"). Heart disease is very prevalent 

 among the natives, but consumption takes the 

 worst hold. Then there are the malarial 

 fevers which also get the northern men. For 

 these reasons, no one with either heart or lung 

 trouble should try to live here in summer. 

 The winters are fine for both, for the air is 

 then generally dry and clear. 



I say nothing of yellow fever, for there is 

 no danger of that in the country, nor to men 

 of regular habits if they do get it. 



Then comes the trouble to find locations. 

 For instance, one of my yards is just piling in 

 the honey, while one eight miles away is not 

 much more than making a living at present ; 

 yet four months ago, when I located the last 

 one, that location looked to be the better of 

 the two. 



A stranger coming here would find it very 

 hard to get a good place. This fall one man 

 came from the States with some bees which 

 he took to a place he had heard called a good 

 one. After he had been there a while he 

 found there were 2000 colonies within three 

 miles of him. The location was good, but 

 badly overstocked. 



No one seems to know what is on even the 

 next farm He must go and look for himself 

 before he knows whether there are bees or 

 not. 



Then there is no social life here. A man 

 must be able to amuse himself in some other 

 way to be happy. When I say no social life, 

 I mean for us stray Americans. Society is 

 very exclusive, and it is only by a long resi- 

 dence here, or by some accident, that one gets 

 into it ; and when he does, it is so different 

 from northern ways that one has to learn 

 anew. 



But if one is prepared to enjoy nature, if he 

 knows some botany, entomology, or geology, 

 he can be perfectly happy here. Where one 

 can go out every day and find a bug or a plant 

 or a fossil not down in the books he can be 

 sure of enough to keep him busy, and he can 

 get honey. One friend has already this sea- 

 son 75,000 lbs. from 500 colonies, and the sea- 

 son is only about half over. Another started 

 with 32 in April, now has 170, and 20,000 lbs. 

 of honey. But, again, white honey, the finest 

 in the world, brings only Zyi cts. here now. 



