1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1249 



and every bee-keeper who expects to stay in the 

 business should lend a helping hand. The com- 

 mittee having the matter in charge is composed 

 of excellent timber; namely, Jay Smith, of Vin- 

 cennes; George Demuth, of Peru, and Walter S. 

 Pouder, of Indianapolis. These men can not do 

 it all themselves; they must have public opinion 

 behind them, and practical assistance when nec- 

 essary. A certain amount of public spirit is re- 

 quired to make laws worth any thing, and there 

 are plenty of good bee-keepers in Indiana who 

 can be of service, if they will. They can have 

 this law if they insist on it. Don't hang back 

 and let some one else do all the work. Politi- 

 cians require prodding or nothing is done. Sit 

 down and write your representatives and senators 

 that you expect them to vote for the bill appoint- 

 ing a State Inspector of Apiaries. Your letter 

 will count for a good deal. 



* 



IRRIGATION IN PORTO RICO. 



It has been decided by the insular government 

 to spend $3,000,000 on an irrigation project some- 

 what similar to those now being constructed in 

 the United States. Porto Rico, though a small 

 island (a little less than Jamaica), has a peculiar 

 rainfall distribution. On the eastern end there is 

 an enormous rainfall — 120 to 150 inches per an- 

 num — whereas on the south aud southwest the 

 fall is so light as to render farming precarious. 

 Irrigation will give the sugar industry very great 

 encouragement; but whether that is a good thing 

 or not depends on the point of view. It will cer- 

 tainly help the landlord class and the owners of 

 sugar-mills; but industries like bee-keeping will 

 not be helped — quite probably the contrary. It 

 will create an army of poorly paid laborers who 

 will live in barracks a hand-to-mouth existence, 

 working to help the sugar trust. The life they 

 lead demoralizes them. On the other hand, a 

 band of small fruit, vegetable, and coffee farmers 

 would build up the community. Bee-keeping 

 in Cuba has been curtailed by the extension of 

 sugar-cane farming. This is not so beneficial as 

 might be thought. 



HANDBOOK OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 



Through the courtesy of Mr. E. J. Watson, 

 Commissioner (Columbia), I have been favored 

 with a copy of the Handbook of South Carolina. 

 It is a large book of over 600 closely printed 

 pages, containing many good illustrations. It 

 forms a complete description of the Palmetto 

 State. If any of the northern readers of Gleax- 

 i\Gs have serious intentions of moving to a mild- 

 er climate I would earnestly recommend them to 

 get a copy of this book. No price is attached, 

 but doubtless the charge is nominal. As a field 

 for skilled gardeners, farmers, and fruit-growers. 

 South Carolina is not surpassed by any country 

 in the world. On the coast there are old groves 

 of oranges, trees which sometimes fruit, while 

 up near the mountains splendid apples, grapes, 

 and peaches are grown. Truck-growing is an 

 immense industry along the coast. The greatest 

 yield of corn ever known in this country was ob- 

 tained in South Carolina, and its cotton is fa- 

 mous. It has not figured very largely as a bee- 

 country, nevertheless much of it is well adapted, 

 and Mr. Watson writes that white clover is being 



scattered all over the upper portion of the State 

 by agents of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture. The immense cotton-mills, fertiliz- 

 er-factories, lumber-mills, etc., furnish a splendid 

 market. Education is well attended to, and rail- 

 roads completely intersect the whole land, 



APICULTURE IN SPAIN. 



The editor of Gaceta Apicola de Espana, in the 

 September issue, laments the condition of bee 

 culture in Spain in very pessimistic terms. He 

 says that, on many occasions, he has referred to 

 the superior position of bee-keeping in Cuba, 

 where the conditions are no better than in Spain. 

 But he says the style of bee-keeping in Cuba is 

 North American, not Spanish, thanks to the easy 

 communication with that country. (The Span- 

 iards usually term our country Norte Amerique. ) 

 In Cuba the predominating flower is the campa- 

 nilla, which produces a very light rich honey, 

 much sought after by foreign merchants who ex- 

 port it to Europe. He claims the honey of romero 

 (rosemary), which is common in Spain, would 

 compete with the campanilla if given an oppor- 

 tunity; but the amount of honey produced by the 

 movable-comb system in Spain is relatively very 

 small; whereas in Cuba movable combs are the 

 whole show. This accounts for Cuban superior- 

 ity, both as to quality and quantity. 



The editor is correct. Spain ought to be a 

 great honey country. It has the right kind of 

 flora, and excellent climate, and proximity to 

 great honey markets. In fact, there is a great op- 

 portunity right now for the Spaniards to show 

 what they can do if they will only follow the lead 

 of the Cubans and import American bee-supplies 

 by the carload. Will they rise to the opportu- 

 nity and grasp it.? They can very speedily over- 

 take and surpass all European or West Indian 

 rivals. 



CANE SUGAR VS. BEET. 



Dr. Miller wants to know more about sugar. 

 It is a difficult matter to explain this to the pub- 

 lic, but I will try. Long ago Huber found out 

 that raw sugar, when fed to bees that were en- 

 gaged in comb-building, produced more beeswax 

 than a high-grade or refined sugar. In fact, they 

 made more from raw sugar than they did from 

 honey. This experiment was verified by Dumas 

 and Milne-Edwards, two very celebrated French 

 naturalists who used the most careful tests in the 

 work. Others have tried this with the same re- 

 sults. You can not very well try this experiment 

 with beet sugar. Raw beet-root sugar is not very 

 nice. In England, where beet sugar is very com- 

 mon, it has been often noted that bees do not do 

 so well when fed on it. Remember, too, the beet 

 sugar is a little cheaper and easier to get. The 

 Germans get around it somewhat by inverting 

 the beet sugar. The syrups they make are very 

 nice indeed, and are sold all ready for the bees. 

 They are sometimes made with grape sugar add- 

 ed. This is to make the syrup resemble honey 

 as far as possible In this case an ounce of prac- 

 tice is worth a pound of theory. Bees are very 

 fond of and do well on the juice of sugar-cane. 

 It encourages wax secretion. The best cane su- 

 gar for bees is the simple open-kettle brown sugar 

 made in Porto Rico. The advent of Americans 



