1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



711 



volve storing the honey some months, and 

 then feeding. My plan is to cut out the 

 combs instead of extracting them, and return 

 the frames, but only half from each hive, ex- 

 tracting the other half so they will at all times 

 have store room. Then when there is no 

 longer a surplus to be had in the fields, con- 

 tract the brood nest and set out honey at one 

 side of the apiary. As fast as they carry in 

 the honey, melt the wax which reinauis ; then 

 when they have built their combs nearly down, 

 set them out to be emptied anil melted. 



I think the improved cou lition of my bees 

 in the beginning of the next harvest will about 

 pay for the extra labor ; but until it has been 

 tried, no one knows how it will work. 



The native system in box hives is to cut out 

 all combs that have no worker brood, about 

 four times a year, or as often as the bees fill 

 the hive with combs. By this means they get 

 about 1 lb. of wax to every 15 lbs. of honey. 

 That is, every time they get 15 lbs. of honey 

 they also get 1 lb. of wax. 



In the old times here there were many api- 

 aries run entirely for wax. They simply 

 threw away the honey. 



In conclusion, it is safe to say that it is only 

 in some special location like Cuba that it could 

 be made to pay to run for wax alone ; but in 

 many places the wax production can be profit- 

 ably increased. 



Artemisa, Cuba. 



[I see no reason why wax production could 

 not be carried on profitably in Cuba ; and I 

 believe you will find that, under some condi- 

 tions, it will not take more than 3 lbs. of hon- 

 ey to make one of wax. Indeed, some exper- 

 iments were conducted — ju^t where and when 

 and by whom I can not now recall — showing 

 that, when conditions were right, even as low 

 as 2^ lbs , or about that, of honey, could be 

 converted into a pound of wax. Perhaps I 

 am wrong in my iigures ; and if so, some of 

 our many readers who can recall the experi- 

 ments may be able to give us the exact data. 

 Referring to your prf>posfcd method, I believe 

 it is along the right line, and we shall be glad 

 to know just how it turns out financially. 



Several correspondents in old Mtxico have 

 asked for particulars as to the best method 

 for converting honey into wax ; but so far we 

 have been able to give no satisfactory infor- 

 mation, for we have had absolutely no expe- 

 rience. If there are any of our subscribers 

 in the West Indies, or any other hot country 

 where honey is abundant and ch'^ap, and wax 

 high-priced, and who are in position to give 

 us information, I should I e glad to have them 

 write and tell us all about it — Ed ] 



CUBA FOR BEES AND HONEY. 



Wrong Notions Corrected. 



BY ROBT. L I.UACES 



On page 136 I call the attention of brother 

 bee-keepers in the United States to statements 

 made by divers American bee-keepers in re- 

 gard to conditions in Cuba, trying to show 

 that Cuba is a much better country, both for 



bees and production of honey, than such 

 statements seem to impart ; and now Mr. H. 

 G. Osburn, page 432, says I have taken some 

 of the old experienced chaps by the neck for 

 not printing a truthful picture of the real 

 state of the bee industry in Cuba. Mr. O. 

 seems not to have read well what I wrote, for 

 in his article he goes on to prove my object ; 

 first, Cuba gives better results to the bee-keep- 

 er than what is said. The first part of Mr. 

 O.'s article proves this, for he gives us a syn- 

 opsis of the production of his apiary at Punta 

 Brava, that can't be beaten. The second part 

 claims that bee-keepers have been printing 

 things about Cuba as a bee country when they 

 know only a very small portion of the island. 

 Mr. O. commits the same fault by his own 

 showing, for he says that there are good loca- 

 tions in the middle, and along the south coast 

 of the island, " where nobody but colored peo- 

 ple can live. I expect to penetrate some of 

 them next year." Now, I live in the middle. 

 and am white, as are 70,000 of my neighbors. 

 Mr. O. expects to penetrate, so he has not done 

 so ; and the south coast of Cuba is some 700 

 miles long ; I hope I shall see Mr. O. when 

 he does his penetration act. Mr. O. seems to 

 indicate that a 68-hive man can't know as 

 much about locations as a 105-hive man ; ergo, 

 my neighbor, with his 1000 hollow log hives 

 knows more about bees than Langstroth did. 

 If Mr. O. would come up country and look 

 around he could say he knew what Cuba is 

 good for. 



Mr. W. W. Somerford, on page 553, gives us 

 something very good on hive-covers and bot- 

 tom-boards. So far I have nothing to com- 

 plain of in regard to the Dovetailed covers. I 

 have had them in use two years out in the 

 open, and they are as good as new. The 16x 

 21 inch bricks are just the thing. I don't use 

 them, but some much the same. I use pieces 

 of hard-wood boards — mahogany, sabicu, ju- 

 caro, etc., with the same idea and results, aft- 

 er having found that my queen in two cases 

 had moved to the space under the bottom- 

 board, and the bees had filled it with comb. 

 If Mr. S.'s friend of the railroad iron had 

 used old street car rails he would have come 

 out all right, for they offer no place for the 

 bees to harbor in, and fulfill all other condi- 

 tions. The staple in the bottom corner of 

 frames just hits where I wanted. 



I should like to call the attention of Messrs. 

 Somerford, Howe, Osburn, and others, to the 

 following : Bees here (Puerto Principe) die off 

 a good deal during campanilla bloom. I am 

 the only man who keeps hives on the ground. 

 All others follow the custom of the country, 

 and mount them on stilts. So far I have had 

 no losses. All the others have. Is it loca- 

 tion, season, or situation ? Italians and their 

 crosses suffer less than blacks. 



Puerto Principe, Cuba. 



[It 1*5 very easy for one to judge of a whole 

 large territory by one or two little spots in it, 

 and it wouM not be strange if some of our cor- 

 respondents had unwittingly fallen into this 

 error. If so, I know they will be glad to be 

 corrected. — Ed.] 



