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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



some of the weak colonies being- run for ex- 

 tracting-. Often the combs of brood are 

 placed in the upper story; and as the brood 

 hatches, the combs are filled with honey. 

 The colony from which the3' are taken is 

 given empty drawn comb, frames with 

 starters, or frames filled with foundation, 

 as the case may be. I see no reason why 

 this method of forcing swarms is not all 

 right, but I should prefer not to make the 

 swarms until cells are started. 



Monroe, Wis. Harry Lathrop. 



WEST-INDIAN PEARLS; OR, TORRID=ZONE DROPS. 



Bee°keeping in Those Islands, 



BY W. K. MORRISON. 



Previous to the eruption St. Vincent was 

 making rapid progress in bee-keeping; in 

 fact, Mr. Powell, the curator of the Botan- 

 ic Gardens, reported great success. But a 

 dry blanket of hot cinders is not conducive 

 to successful bee-keeping. Unfortunate, if 

 lovely, St. Vincent ! 



The Moutserrat bee-keepers are very 

 much pleased over their success. The lo- 

 cal paper waxes quite eloquent over the 

 matter, and it ought to know, as ye editor 

 is a bee-keeper. Commissioner "Watkins, 

 who is the beloved governor of the island, 

 takes a keen interest in the industry; and 

 so long as he is at the helm the bee-keepers 

 feel certain of cordial government assist- 

 ance. 



The island of Nevis, the birthplace of 

 Alexander Hamilton, the great American 

 statesman, and the founder of the Republi- 

 can party, seems to be minus a modern 

 apiary. Nevis was also the home of Mrs. 

 Admiral Nelson, Britannia's naval hero. 

 So distinguished a place ought not to lin- 

 ger on the way to progress. Wake up, 

 Ben Nevis ! 



Even the lonely island of Saba has got 

 inoculated with the bee fever, and the per- 

 severing Dutchmen are now importing 

 Rootville hives. Fancy, gentle reader, land- 

 ing on a rock-bound coast, and then having 

 to carry your hives up a stone stair of 800 

 steps! Ought to succeed, eh? 'J hose 

 Dutchmen are audacious enough to produce 

 honey up in their eyrie-like home, carry it 

 down those same steps and ship it to Lon- 

 don. They'll do it too. 



Sir Alfred Jones, President of the Elder- 

 Dempster Co. lines of steamers, recently 

 bought 500 bottles of Jamaica honey, which 

 he distributed gratis to a large number of 

 prominent persons in the British Isles. 

 Now he has ordered the officers of his 

 steamers to buy only Jamaica honey. As 

 the Elder-Dempster Co. own over 100 large 

 steamers, some of them great passenger 

 ships, it follows that this is important to 

 Jamaica. Some one ought to carry the 

 news to J. P. Morgan & Co., Wall Street, 

 New York. 



Grenada is coming to the front as a bee 



countrj^ The largest apiary is owned by 

 an Asiatic Indian whose sole instructor 

 was a book on bee-keeping, so it is said. 



Last year the Agricultural Society of St. 

 Lucia voted S160 to assist the formation of 

 a bee-keeping industry. Judging from the 

 results secured elsewhere, St. L.ucia ought 

 to get good returns for the money invested. 

 St. Lucia is not only a fine countrj^ for ag- 

 riculture, but one of the most beautiful 

 islands in all the world. It's a gem. 



Now that Saba has embarked in apicul- 

 ture, why should we not hear from Barbu- 

 da, Anguila, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, St. 

 Barts, St. Eustatius, and Curacoa? and 

 why — oh ! why — don't the Bahamas join us? 

 There is no excuse for them. 



President Castro, of Venezuela, has just 

 promulgated a new tariff. Among other 

 articles he entirely prohibits the importa- 

 tion of honey. This is done to protect the 

 native bee-keeping industry. Modern bee- 

 hives were first introduced into Venezuela 

 (so it is said) some 12 years ago, by W. K. 

 Morrison, who was engaged from Wash- 

 ington by ex-president Palacio, to initiate 

 the industry. In Columbia, Brazil, and 

 Venezuela, honey from the stingless bees is 

 used considerablj' by the country folk. 



Reports from Jamaica state that more 

 people are taking up the bee industry, and 

 in some localities overstocking is bound to 

 happen ere long, if it hasn't already taken 

 place. This is to be regretted, seeing there 

 are other British colonies equally good 

 where there are practically no bee-keepers 

 as yet. Honduras, for example, with its 

 forests of logwood and mahogany, has as 

 yet hardly made a commencement. 



Recently a meeting of the principal bee- 

 keepers of Jamaica decided that the low 

 price of colonial honey was due to insuffi- 

 cient care on the part of the bee-keepers, 

 and it was resolved to adopt ways and 

 means to prevent inferior hone3' being ship- 

 ped to England. It was shown that the 

 honey from a few careless ones depressed 

 the value of the whole of the colony's out- 

 put. 



Tobago, Robinson Crusoe's island, is 

 very slow to take up bee-keeping on mod- 

 ern lines. Does it require a Daniel Defoe 

 to arise and make known to the world its 

 bee-keeping capabilities? 



What's the matter with Trinidad? It 

 makes no comparison with Jamaica in the 

 business of bee-keeping, though it is known 

 to be a first-rate bee country. The far- 

 famed cacao estates of lere are all shaded 

 with honey-giving trees, and what is to 

 hinder development? Are the Trinidadi- 

 ans as slow on honey as they are on fruit- 

 growing? or is it that the Jamaicans are 

 more enterprising? 



Among the Leeward Islands, Antigua 

 takes the lead, which is no more than its 

 due, seeing it is the seat of government, 

 and it has been the longest at it. The 

 yield is good, and the bouquet fair. It is a 

 dry island — that is to say, its rainfall is 

 light. 



