1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



559 



my first experience with it. It certainly 

 has some good features about it. It re- 

 volves very easily, and allows the accumu- 



THE HARRYS AND THE COCOANUTS. 



lation of 200 or 300 lbs. of honey below the 

 comb-basket. The honey, if not drawn off 

 too rapidly, is quite free from particles of 

 comb, etc. ; and as there is no use of being- 

 very particular about it the honey can go 

 directly into the bocoy. 



As a rule, honej' here is more limpid than 

 in California; and the particles of comb, 

 etc., that are in the hone}' come to the sur- 

 face quickly; and where the thick honey 

 would need careful straining, this honey 

 will pass without it. 



As I stated while with Mr. 

 Somerford, the honey-flow is 

 rapid during the winter months, 

 and the bees accumulate it with 

 no desire to swarm. The queen 

 is crowded down to a mere hand- 

 breadth of brood, and to a de- 

 cided detriment to the further 

 production of honey. There is 

 not the working force necessa- 

 ry, and one of the problems of 

 Cuban bee-keeping is a manip- 

 ulation that will keep the hive 

 well filled with a workingforce. 



In April, after the main hon- 

 ey-flow, there is another phase 

 and problem. Honey still comes 

 in, but now the queen keeps 

 ahead of the bees ; and as the 

 days lengthen, the swarming 

 strengthens. The bees seem to 

 know of the great honey re- 

 sources around them ; and while 

 in the States they delay swarm- 

 ing until their super is nearlyor 



quite filled, here they swarm'^with but lit- 

 tle honey in the hive; and, after being hiv- 

 ed, they are loath to stay put, and even re- 

 fuse the blandishments of a comb of larva?. 

 It is safe to say that hundreds of colonies 

 abscond from the apiaries on the west end 

 of the island. 



The two Harrys are trying to solve this 

 problem; and, to keep the bees down to 

 work, Harry H. is after wax, and Harry B. 

 after both wax and honey. 



When a colony gets so strong as to show 

 an inclination to swarm, the bees are shak- 

 en into an empty hive. In about four days 

 Harry Beaver puts on a super of sections ; 

 and at the present writing. May 8, the bees 

 are filling them with honey. I certainly 

 know of several apiaries where, if this 

 shake-out plan had been adopted, the re- 

 sult would have been several thousand dol- 

 lars' worth of comb honey, where now it is 

 only a waste of swarming. 



As will be readily noted by the bee-keep- 

 er, a sure increase can be made, and at the 

 same time all objectionable combs can be 

 cut out and rendered into wax. I predict 

 that this shook-swarm plan will be tried 

 more extensively in Cuba in the future. 



According to the old adage, "All work 

 and no play makes Jack a dull boy," so 

 the two Harrys find a sort of safety-valve 

 in fishing, and hunting alligators. There 

 are scores of lagoons here that stretch away 

 to the south coast, only about fifteen miles 

 away; and during the rainy season lagoon 

 joins lagoon until they are continuous to the 

 ocean. The Harrys have constructed a lit- 

 tle boat; and with a contrary, dilapidated, 

 dejected-looking mule and ditto wagon thej' 

 haul the boat to the scene of operations. I 

 would also say that the same mule hauls 

 supplies to and from the various apiaries; 

 also cocoauuts. It seems that, every time 

 I called upon the Harrys, their barrels of 

 cocoanuts were as inexhaustible as the 

 widow's cruse of oil. With cocoanuts, ba- 



INSIDE OK PALM HONEY-HOUSE. 



