1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



691 



think the most of his strain from Mr. J. B. 

 Case, of Florida. The Italian clearly has 

 the preference in the Moe apiaries, and I 

 think Mr. Somerford has a 

 strong' liking- the same waj'. 

 What he told me about the 

 blacks when I first came here 

 was just his talking-. 



Another very good feature 

 about this apiary is its brand- 

 new bees and no foul brood. 

 I examined them quite thor- 

 oughly with the owners, and 

 found only a tincture of pickled 

 brood, which, in my California 

 experience, disappears in the 

 midst of a honey-harvest, and 

 Mr. Moe assures me that it 

 disappears after requeening- 

 with a vigorous Italian strain. 



The ten -frame Langstroth 

 hive is used. In one apiary the 

 Coggsh all extractor is used; in 

 theother, the Cowan. Both have 

 their excellent points ; and if 

 all these could be combined 

 into one it would be near per- 

 fection. The Coggshall is the 

 lighter-running, while the Cow- 

 an does not break combs. 



Mrs. Moe combines the rearing of poultry 

 and bee culture, and had nearl}' 100 fowls. 

 They had a free run in the apiary, and 

 some of them had developed into bee-catch- 

 ers. Said hen will steal up to a hive and 

 grab laden bees as they are returning. If 

 the bees show fight the hen runs quickly 

 along the row to a new location, and comes 

 the grab game again. Or they approach 

 the hive from the rear, and carefully reach 

 around in front and pick off the bees. 

 Such self-educated hens were singled out 

 for the pot, and I am assured they were in- 

 variably fat and savory. 



It is something of a job, as I witnessed, 

 to handle those big- bocoys of honey. Mr. 

 Moe extracts until he gets a carload, or 20 





\ 



vi'€- 



"the only AMERICANO IN TOWN." 



BOCOYS, 100 GALLONS, FOR HONEY. 



bocoys; then the oxen and carreta are call- 

 ed upon to transport the sweetness to the 

 railroad. I herewith present a photo of the 

 method of loading. This operation, in this 

 case, is on level ground. Trenches are dug 

 to allow the big wheels to drop a foot or 

 more. A rope is put around the bocojs and 

 the head yoke of oxen attached to it, and it 

 is rolled upon the carreta without much fuss. 

 Four bocoys can be carried upon one carre- 

 ta, and it makes quite a spectacular ap- 

 pearance on the highway, or, rather, it 

 would if seen in Ohio or New York. 



Another photo shows Mr. Moe hiving a 

 swarm of bees out of one of 

 those mango-trees. He uses a 

 light bamboo pole (the bamboo 

 grows here), and a common 

 live-gallon tin can at the end of 

 it; and it is a real hand^^ af- 

 fair, for I have learned to use 

 it. Mrs. Moe is also an adept 

 in the use of it, and hives many 

 d. swarm. But she would hard- 

 ly try to get the swarms from 

 one of those tall mango-trees. 



In the interests of a larger 

 bee-keeping, and with a view to 

 establishing- more apiaries, Mr. 

 Moe and myself made a little 

 trip to Consolation del Sur, some 

 30 miles along the railroad. Our 

 observations from the car win- 

 dow as we sped along- were 

 good, bad, and indifi'erent, ac- 

 cording to the show of honey flo- 

 ra. Around Consolation del Sur 

 we came to the conclusion that 

 bees might possibly starve. If 

 we had gone 25 miles further 



