206 



June, 1915. 



American Hee Journal 



old hive to a new stand, 6, 10, or more 

 feet distant, and leave the swarm on 

 the old stand, of course without the 

 " saver." That's all ; the bees will do 

 the rest, and there will be no after- 

 swarm. There will be no trouble 

 about the bees going down to find the 

 new entrance; I've tried it often. 



This will be easier than any case of 

 hiving a natural swarm in the old way, 

 and immensely easier than some cases ; 

 and for one who wants natural swarms 

 without watching for them, assuming 

 that the swarm will make itself at home 

 above, this device would seem a thing 



greatly to be desired. — C. C. M.l 



-^»^ 



Progressive vs. Box-hive Bee- 

 Keeping in Cuba 



BY D. \V. MILLAR. 



THK following letter from Mr. F. K. 

 Kezar is liable to be misunder- 

 stood, and I believe requires an 

 answer. Mr. Kezar is a man who from 

 long association here knows the lan- 

 guage and customs perfectly, and as an 

 authority on land titles, the Cuban law 

 and the making of pure sugar cane 

 syrup, the business he is engaged in, 

 we take our hat off to him. Further- 

 more, he is thoroughly reliable. How- 

 ever, what he doesn't know about mod- 

 ern beekeeping would fill just as big a 

 book as what he does about the other 

 subjects mentioned : 



"Your letter received, also the Bee 

 Journal, and it is no doubt a very fine 

 paper for United States. I am a per- 

 sonal friend of Mr. D. W. Millar, of 

 Holguin, Oriente, and he is one of the 

 leading bee-men of Cuba today so far 

 as science goes, but the Cuban method 

 has been 'skinned a mile' when it 

 comes to money making and knowing 

 the bee-business in Cuba. We have 

 too many Americms that come here 

 and try to revolutionize the Cuban 

 ways, most of whom starve at it. 



" Your theories and modern hives 

 are all right, but for money making 

 give me the real old Cuban ways. 1 

 own and control a little over OOUO colo- 

 nies at the present time, and not one 

 American hive, and even with the very 

 low market price in Germany, we are 

 making real money, while !)0 percent 

 of our American fiiends are either 

 quitting the business or starving at it. 

 So I cannot see my way clear to en- 

 courage in any way your business here, 

 especially as it must all be done in 

 Spanish." F. K. Ke/.ar. 



Now from his personal standpoint 

 only, he is right about the bee-business 

 in Cuba. He buys swarms in logs at 

 an average of 'W cents each and gives 

 them to the natives on the halves. If 

 they get 4 gallons per log annually, 

 which they do not, and it sells at 12 

 cents per gallon, as it has this year, he 

 has a good investment. By loading up 

 the rear end of an occasional operator 

 with fine shot, he can manage to get 

 about his one-half all right, and this is 

 all the beekeeping he has to bother 

 with. 



Modern equipment costs more to be 

 sure, but in ('uba good locations and 

 proper management will produce from 



19 to 25 gallons on an average annually 

 per colony (e.xtracted), My average 

 this year and last was !<• pounds, but a 

 neighbor this year has secured from 

 two different apiaries an average of 25 

 gallons, /'ure, clean and i-ife honey 

 ex/>;icled, as it is only posssible to do 

 so by modern methods, brings a much 

 better price than straiiu-il honey. My 

 extracted nets me from 5 to 8 cents per 

 pound, 12 pounds to a gallon. 



( If course, the man who has studied 

 modern beekeeping knows the great 

 difference in the percent of profit in its 

 favor, but the beginner who may read 

 Mr. Kezar's letter, should know both 

 sides of the situation here, and I think 

 he can readily see the difference from 

 the explanation. 



All that Mr. Ke/ar says about the 

 many Americans who wish to change 

 everything in a minute is correct. Like- 

 wise what he says about 90 percent of 

 Cuba's modern beekeepers being fail- 

 ures is correct, and he might have in- 

 cluded not only the beekeepers but all 

 the English speakers who have come 

 to Cuba. There are exceptions, how- 

 ever, and those who have studied the 

 situation and mastered their subject 

 are not failures. There have been 

 many reasons for beekeeping failures, 

 some on account of poor locations, 

 fear of being stung, lack of capital, in- 

 attention to business and not properly 

 mastering the business in detail, etc., 

 but the main reason can be charged to 

 producers of honey from log hives. 



This s/i-ai>icd honey, known all over 



the world as " West Indian " is dirty, 

 will quickly sour, and is not fit for 

 consumption, even if it were not doc- 

 tored before being exported. The pro- 

 ducer of i'ood, clean, fure, rife honey 

 that has been exlracUd, has to sell his 

 goods as "West Indian" in many 

 cases, because he has no fit packages 

 to ship i^ood honey in, old dirty sec- 

 ond-hand lard barrels being the main 

 package obtainable here. 



New clean tins or barrels imported 

 from the States cost money, and in 

 advance of the harvest at least six 

 months, putting them out of the ques- 

 tion for many, who have in the begin- 

 ning started short. The dirty barrels 

 and some supplies are advanced by 

 the local honey buyers, and you take 

 their prices for your goods. Good and 

 bad is all the same to them, because 

 they sell it all as bad and for what they 

 can get, paying accordingly. 



We can produce by modern methods 

 just as good honey in Cuba as can be 

 produced any place, if we do this by 

 being clean, properly ripening our 

 honey and packing it in clean pack- 

 ages, why should it sell for 30 and 40 

 cents per gallon with freight, and 10 

 cents per gallon duty paid in New 

 York, when no better American honey 

 is bringing (i to 8 cents per pound ? It 

 should not and will not if the producer 

 does his own exporting and selling, 

 with a little sampling and advertising. 

 The buyers will soon know whether 

 he is sending good goods and whether 

 or not he is reliable. Holguin, Cuba. 



KIG 2.-ILLUS 1 KAl ING THK S rRUCTUSK OK A SWAKM SAVEK 



