1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



539 



Little Arthur is playing at my side with a glow- 

 fly, which he calls Blinkey. I suppose it is so nam- 

 ed because its light is intermittent. He says it has 

 two lanterns on its back two oval luminous spots 

 on the dorsal surface of the thorax. These spots, 

 or tubercles, are visible in daylight. When the in- 

 sect is quiet, the spots are opaque; but when dis- 

 turbed they ignite and increase in intensity until 

 the light becomes dazzling. The color of the light 

 is yellow-green. When its body is distended in 

 flight it emits a light of a ruddy color from a mem- 

 brane on the veutral side of the abdomen, which is 

 thrown like the light from a bullseye lantern, and 

 covers a space three or four feet iu diameter. On a 

 dark night the light from one of these flies makes 

 every object in the room visible, and I have fre- 

 quently determined the time of night, and got a 

 drink for the children by it. The natives who can 

 not afford the luxury of a lamp or candle, frequent- 

 ly light their houses by means of three or four of 

 these glow-flies in a bottle. A few nights ago I met 

 several children in the road, and all had a glow-fly, 

 which they were using as a lantern. There are va- 

 rious species of fire-flies; but most conspicuous 

 among them is Photwris versicolor, or " Winkey-wal- 

 lie," as the natives call it. Tt is frequently seen 

 resting on the wall, when it will gradually increa'se 

 the intensity of its light until it glows like a torch; 

 then it gradually dies away until it becomes extinct. 

 It will remain for a time, then gradually increase 

 to its former brightness, and die away again. There 

 is a clump of bamboo before the mission house at 

 Providence that nods in the breeze like great os- 

 trich plumes; and during the dark nights in May, 

 myriads of these fireflies take up their abode in 

 it; and the light from their bodies, reflected and 

 refracted from the drop of dew on each leaf makes 

 it a veritable burning bush. J. W. Jenkins. 



Providence, Jamaica, April 17, 188M. 



We tire very much obliged indeed for the 

 wonderful accounts of these insect-friends. 

 No doubt Prof. Cook would be greatly de- 

 lighted to see these thing? you mention ; 

 and I confess that I never before had the 

 remotest idea that there was an insect any- 

 where in the world that would throw a cir- 

 cle of light ahead like a dark-lantern. It 

 really seems as if they might be utilized, 

 and bred for the special purpose of impart- 

 ing light. Are they not cheaper than lights 

 and lanterns? Who knows to what extent 

 this wonderful peculiarity might not be in- 

 creased by a little encouragement in the 

 way of breeding and selection? 



BEE-KEEPING IN CUBA. 



FRIEND POPPLETON GIVES US SOME VALUABLE 

 AND INTERESTING FIGURES. 



"Up CCOHDING to the promise I made to you 

 2M|| nearly a year ago, I will now try to tell the 

 ^» readers of Gleanings something about bee- 

 ■**■ keeping in Cuba; but keep in mind the fact 

 that we have been here a little over one year 

 only, and no single season's experience can be full 

 and complete enough to enable one to judge accu- 

 rately as to resources, methods, etc. 



So far as I can learn, the first movable-comb apia- 

 ry in Cuba was established five years ago last Octo- 

 ber on the estate of the brothers Casanova, about 

 18 miles east of Havana, by A- J- King and A- W. 



Osborn, the latter remaining in charge for two 

 years, when he came here, ten miles southwest of 

 Havana, and established this one. Mr. King also 

 established another one a little over a year ago, 

 some 200 miles ^east of hei - e; but this was not run 

 for honey last winter. So far as I know, these are 

 the only movable-comb apiaries in Cuba ; but oth- 

 ers are contemplated. The Casanova apiary is fitted 

 with hives and appliances for some 600 colonies, 

 and this one'for 500. Mr. P. Casanova has kindly 

 furnished me with such records of his apiary as he 

 has; but I find it impossible to obtain complete in- 

 formation of the workings of that apiary. Nov. 11, 

 1883, Mr. Osborn reports 93 colonies alive of the 100 

 shipped from New York. Feb. 19, 1885, he reports 

 113 colonies on Dec. 1, previously, and a yield of 

 40,125 lbs. of honey. May 7, he reports having in- 

 creased during the previous year from 34 to 555 col- 

 onies, the 113 of those having survived the summer. 

 I can get no report of the following year, but the 

 report for the honey season of 1886-"87 is, number of 

 one-story colonies, 41; of two-story colonies, 12ti; 

 of three stories, 113. Total, 280. Honey obtained, 

 50,000 lbs. Season of 18S7-'88, no record of colonies, 

 but obtained 33,500 lbs. of honey. Last fall they had 

 62 colonies in single stories, and 322 in two and three 

 story hives. Total, 384. Honey obtained, 20,000 lbs. 

 The following report of the results obtained at 

 this apiary is as nearly correct as I can get them. 

 Apiary started early in 1886, by the purchase of 

 some 40 colonies in Cuban box hives, which were 

 transferred and increased during the year to about 

 130 colonies, 80 of which were in condition to store 

 honey during the extracting season, which that 

 year closed Feb. 1, not because honey had entirely 

 ceased flowing, but because a large increase of col- 

 onies was desired. Crop secured, 30,000 lbs. Dur- 

 ing the spring and summer of 1887 the apiai - y was 

 increased to 500 colonies; but many of these died 

 before and during the honey season, so that when I 

 took charge of the apiary. Feb. 15, 1888, 1 found 411 

 colonies. The total yield that season was a little 

 over 45,000 lbs.; but some more than 3000 lbs. was 

 fed back during the following summer, leaving the 

 net yield 42,000 lbs. We increased the apiary dur- 

 ing last summer to only 436 colouies; but the hurri- 

 cane which made so disastrous a visitation to Cuba 

 last September blew down nearly half of our bee- 

 sheds, killing in their fall some 30 colonies, so we 

 commenced the season with 400 colonies, about 325 

 of them strong enough to store honey in upper 

 stories. We have taken out 50,000 lbs. of honey; 

 but out of that will have to come the amount re- 

 quired for feeding back during the coming summer 

 —an unknown quantity. Since March 1, I have in- 

 creased the apiary to its full capacity of 498 colo- 

 nies. So much for the actual statistics of what has 

 been done. 



Bee-keeping in Cuba is very different from bee- 

 keeping in the States, on account of the^honey-flow 

 coming in winter instead of in the summer. I will 

 try to give some idea of the honey-flow during each 

 month of the year, commencing with June. These 

 figures, or estimates, relate to a 400-colony apiary, 

 which would, of course, be changed for a larger or 

 smaller one. June showed an average loss of 

 about 2 lbs. of honey per colony, this being the first 

 month of the year when the bees gathered less than 

 they used. The loss in July, also in August, was 

 about the same as for June, with a still greater av- 

 erage loss during the first half of September. We 



