190^ 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



73=; 



two-frame machine is easier to work and 

 just as rapid. Two of his Cuban boys will 

 easily take 150 gallons in a day with it. 



While W. W. makes a pretense of strain- 

 ing his honey before it enters the barrel, 



THE HOME APIARY. 



Senior Fred has a very efficient close-mesh 

 wire-cloth strainer in the bottom of a large 

 tub. The honey must all go through that 

 tub and strainer, and I admire that way of 

 doing business. 



His idea of a honey j'ield in 

 a good seasoa is 23 bocoys to 

 the 100 colonies. According to 

 that his 700 colonies should 

 produce 161 bocoys ; or Mr. 

 Moe's 600 should have produc- 

 ed 148 instead of 73. The bee- 

 keeper who wishes to attain to 

 great things must put his mark 

 high. Even 148 b .coys to 600 

 colonies is not greater than has 

 been done in California; and 

 with every thing favorable it 

 ought to be done in Cuba. See- 

 ing that I am now a Cuban 

 bee-keeper I will take Senior 

 Fred's figures for a guide, and 

 get there with him if I can. 



There is nocalzada here, but 

 the rudest of roads. Such a 

 one we followed to Senior Fred's 

 out-apiary. On the way we 

 visited a cave of good propor- 

 tions, for we were in a lime- 

 stone region. Some of these 

 caves are rich in bat manure, 

 and the American gardener is 

 not slow to utilize it. 



All teaming is done on these 

 roads with oxen, and mules are 

 used under the saddle. The 

 wheel is of little use, and can 

 not be used at all in the rainy 

 season. When you see ruts two 

 feet deep in a road in dry 



weather, it is some indication of what pre- 

 vails in the wet season. But the Cuban 

 with his oxen and carreta will get over 

 them. When hauling honey from these out- 

 apiaries, three yoke of oxen are used — two 

 near the carreta and the third 

 at the end of a rope 40 feet 

 ahead of the others. The phi- 

 losophy of this arrangement is 

 theit, if the rear teams are deep 

 in the mud, the yoke, 40 feet 

 ahead, will be on firm ground, 

 or can be guided out one side 

 or the other to solid ground, and 

 their pull materially helps the 

 rear teams; or in going uphill 

 the head team at the top exerts 

 a greater pull than both teams 

 further down. 



Senior Fred said these Cu- 

 ban ox-drivers could give some 

 pointers to any ox-manngers 

 in the world. He indorsed the 

 head yoke as better than the 

 shoulder yoke; but for all that, 

 scientific tests have demon- 

 strated that the shoulder yoke 

 is many per cent the better 

 method. 



W. W. believed in producing 

 comb honey in April and May, 

 and Senior Fred in January and Febru- 

 ary. W. W. believed in feeding his bees 

 sugar, and Senior Fred believed in feeding 

 diluted honej'. W. W. thought it a good 



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Oh, y€>^ Ut^'ra^ g-rcrtArvno! — 



