602 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July IS 



RAMBLE 206. 

 A Visit to tlie Hoclisteio Bee=yard. 



BY RAMBLER. 



Johi\Bunyan and his 

 allegories have been up- 

 on my mind of late, and 

 I have been 'especiall}' 

 impressed with the alle- 

 g-ory of people who see 

 so many fierce lions in 

 their paths, but, getting- 

 close to them, they are 

 chained and harmless. 



It is about the same 

 with the alligators. 

 They are very fierce to 

 terrorize, and sometimes 

 people allow the alliga- 

 tor of hatred, malice, 

 and envy to take posses- 

 sion of them. But I had 

 no such motive when I 

 created that alligator in 

 the last Ramble. I 

 merely wished to show 

 Bro. Howe that there are 

 other lightningoperators 

 in Cuba, and to get even 

 with him for reflecting 

 upon my wheel - riding. 

 See Gleanings, page 110. And now that 

 he has been suspended by that alligator for 

 a couple of weeks we will turn our atten- 

 tion to another trip with out joU}' friends. 



When out with Mr. Somerford I mention- 

 ed meeting Mr. Hochstein; but since that 

 brief call he has moved back further into 

 the wilds of Cuba, and it was to his new 

 location that the Harr3's proposed to con- 

 duct me. We started with some doubts of 

 finding Mr. Hochstein; for to reach him we 

 were to ride over innumerable cow-paths 

 and by-roads. For several miles it was 

 mighty rough but plain traveling; but ere 

 long the cow-paths became more numerous 

 and diverging. Then if the two Harrys 

 agreed upon which road to take there was 



scarcely a halt. It was jolt, jolt along. 

 But if they disagreed they had a brief and 

 novel way of deciding the matter. Dis- 

 mount. Hands into pockets. A coin. A 

 flip. Heads or tails. You win — go ahead. 

 Why, I never in my life saw such a quick 

 and easy way to travel — lightning opera- 

 tors, you know; and, remarkable to say, it 

 was no blind guide, for we went straight 

 to Mr. Hochstein's. 



TILLING THE SOIL IN CUBA. 



AMERICAN TRAMP AND THE KAMBLEK; 



hochstein's apiary. 



When a mile or more away we saw Mr. 

 Hochstein's tents close up against the moun- 

 tains and surrounded with a setting of no- 

 ble palms. 



Mr. Hochstein is a bee-keeper of much ex- 

 perience; and before coming to Cuba he had 

 bees and oranges in Florida. A freeze kill- 

 ed his trees, and led him to emigrate to 

 Cuba with his family and bees. Mr. Hoch- 

 stein is quite an enthusiast upon the bee 

 subject, and has occasionally written over 

 tlie noDi de plume of "The American 

 Tramp." 



Mr. Hochstein's new home is located upon 

 a little plateau overlooking the valley, and 

 to the rear is quite a pretentious mountain. 

 A nice stream of water flows near his tents, 

 and there is enough volume and force to be 

 Converted into power to run machinery if 

 thv re is ever need of it. The two Harrys 

 and [ thovight Mr. Hochstein had an ideal 

 loc.ition; and with his experience we pre- 

 dict that his yields of honey will be large. 

 Mr. H. seemed to think so too, 

 for he had purchased a caballe- 

 ria (33':; acres) of land, and or- 

 ange-trees were already being 

 planted. 



The natives termed the country 

 about him as cielo (heaven), and 

 the lowlands uial pais (bad coun- 

 try). Mr. H. was quite delig^ht- 

 ed to find himself between the 

 two, or in purgator3', as he ex- 

 pressed it. In order to get to his 

 fittca (farm) oxen are used, and 

 one of those immense two-wheel- 

 ed carretas. Some of these car- 

 retons weigh a ton, and nothing 

 can draw them better than the 

 patient ox ; but it seems a spe- 

 cies of cruelty to tie their heads 

 firmly into those yokes. All of 

 Mr. H. 's moving of bees, house- 

 hold goods, and honev, is done 



