1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1441 



the center, and the Z;; top-bar. This latter gives 

 yz inch more comb per frame or 4 inches extra, 

 amountins; to half a frame in every eight frames. 

 Fort Collins, Col. 



BEE-KEEPING IN CUBA. 



Moving Three Apiaries 350 Miles on a 



Schooner; a Venture which 



Proved Disastrous. 



BY FRANK REIMAN. 



After keeping bees for several years in the 

 southern part of the province of Havana, and be- 

 ing terribly annoyed by thieves, revolutions, and 

 half-civilized people who hate the Americans, I 

 decided to look, for a more agreeable place. In 

 the insurrection a year ago I suffered about $1000 

 damages. The claims commission gave me $500, 

 and reminded me that this is what I could expect 

 in a half-civilized country. Last May seven 

 armed men entered the apiary and stole what they 

 wanted; and after that set fire to the bee-yard and 

 burned fifty hives of bees, honey-house, and all 

 the contents. The loss was estimated by the 

 judge at $550. For this I tried to claim damages 

 as an American citizen, and was told that I would 

 not be troubled in this way if I lived in the 

 United States, and he would not consider the 

 claim. The average Cuban is far inferior to the 

 North American Indian. They possess all the 

 bad traits of the Indian, but after that they are 

 the most cowardly race on the face of the earth. 

 I would advise any American who desires to set- 

 tle in Cuba to locate in the eastern provinces, 

 where there are many Americans, and the people 

 are very decent. I had been looking for two 

 years for a place, and decided this part was best, 

 so concluded in August to move every thing here 

 as soon as possible. 



How to move was the question. I could not 

 sell at any price, and decided to move by schooner. 

 I chartered a schooner for $250 to take all the 

 bees and fixtures for 600 hives. The schooner 

 was represented as 40 tons, but proved to be 

 only 30, and was too small to carry all, so I had 

 to take apart over 100 hives. 



I first had to cover 450 hives with wire cloth, 

 which cost $50. The carting cost $80, and the 

 moving by boats in a ditch two miles to the ves- 

 sel cost $35. After loading 300 hives a storm set 

 in and upset many hives in the hold, so I had to 

 move the mess back to the shore next day. The 

 unloading and demurrage of the vessel cost $120. 

 After this I had the bees on shore for 30 days to 

 get in condition, as the brood was nearly all lost, 

 and the 450 hives came down to 225. These were 

 loaded, then half packed in wire cloth, and the 

 other half loose to do what they pleased in the 

 bottom of the vessel — another cost of about $27 

 for loading. 



We started in a magnificent wind, and made 

 many miles until 6 o'clock, when the captain 

 anchored the vessel and said we would sleep 

 there. For eleven nights we anchored in spite of 

 protests I made to the captain; but he and the 

 crew were a sleepy set, and refused to sail by 

 night. 



We arrived in 12 days — eight days overdue. I 

 immediately filed a protest with the consul, who 



had the cargo examined, and pronounced the 

 bees a total loss. I succeeded in saving about 50 

 hives of those that were loose, but those in wire 

 cloth all died. None of these had either eggs 

 or brood except three of Italian, red-clover 

 stock, which were of a lot of ten I received in 

 July. These were ready for work at once, and 

 laid in quite a lot of surplus while I still battled 

 with many of the others to get new queens 

 introduced to them. 



The greatest mistake the Cuban bee-keepers 

 make is to let the stock go too long before intro- 

 ducing new queens. Stock deteriorates very rap- 

 idly here, and some new queens should be bought 

 every year. In Cuba it is impossible to raise 

 good stock, so we must send to the United States. 

 Red-clover long-tongued stock I find the best. 

 Black bees we can not use, as the moth-worms 

 often eat a super, honey and all, even when the 

 hive below is in good condition. I think the 

 great improvement in the honey queens has been 

 the cause of overstocking the market more than 

 any thing else. With the black bees the yield 

 used to be from 5 to 10 lbs. a hive; but now it is 

 50 to 100. In Cuba a good hive of Italians can 

 make a barrel of honey in a year when the natives 

 make only from one to five gallons a year. I 

 have since purchased and transferred 170 hives, 

 and have now over 200 in working order, and 

 am awaiting results in my new district. 



Manzanilio, Cuba. 



COMB-HONEY SUPERS. 



When Shall They be Put on and Taken 

 off? Shall Empty Supers be Put Above 

 or Below the Full Ones.^ Some Excellent 

 Advice for the Comb-honey Producer. 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



What a changeable business bee-keeping is! 

 No danger of a wide-awake bee-keeper stagnating 

 from the monotony of his business. Always un- 

 solved problems, always new problems arising. 

 I still lie awake nights studying over them with 

 just as keen interest as I did 47 years ago. 



Take the matter of supers. When shall they 

 be given.? When taken off.? Shall a fresh super 

 be given above or below the one or ones already 

 on.? I confess I don't know — at least I haven't 

 it down to any fixed rule, but must constantly 

 be deciding each case afresh. 



Almost, however, the question of putting on is 

 settled; practically, it is. When I see the very 

 first white-clover bloom I get supers on as fast as 

 convenient — not that the bees will use them at 

 once. I watched the thing very closely the past 

 season, and it was just ten days from the time I 

 saw the very first clover-bloom until I decided 

 the bees were harvesting more than enough for 

 their daily needs. So it might do to wait that 

 ten days. But during that time the bees are get- 

 ting acquainted with their new store-house; and 

 when the rush of the harvest comes I think they 

 commence storing above a little more promptly 

 than if the super be not given until the very day 

 they absolutely feel the need of it. Yes, I feel 

 quite sure they do, and that little difference may 

 make all the difference between their deciding to 

 swarm and their not deciding. And that differ- 



