140 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



fill below, and started their surplus in the ends 

 and in the upper parts of the brood-frames. Had 

 a man told me then that I was going to make a 

 change from a deep to a shallow frame (less than 

 six inches deep) I should have told him that all 

 the argument he could bring to bear would never 

 cause me to change. 



I felt that, if I were to break up this mass of 

 brood and honey, I must break the hive into sec- 

 tions. I had never seen a sectional hive, but I at 

 once began to look for one, and I ordered five 

 sectional hives, rather against my will. I had 

 just put one together when I was told a swarm 

 was out I grabbed one section with eight frames 

 and dumped the bees into it. While I was mak- 

 ing them all comfortable, another swarm gather- 

 ed on a limb in the same tree, and I put them in 

 the other section of eight frames. Just then a 

 small swarm came from somewhere, and soon 

 the air seemed to be getting thick with bees — 

 more bees than I had ever seen out at one time. 

 They finally settled, and filled this shallow six- 

 inch shell full, covered the top and sides, and 

 spread out on the ground till the hive was out of 

 sight. 



Well, I put the two six-inch bodies together, 

 and a super on top; but it took the bees four days 

 to get inside. On the second day I found a dead 

 queen in front of the hive. On the fifth day I 

 looked under the cover and saw the sight which 

 Dr. Miller refers to as the prettiest sight ever seen 

 in a super — 27 sections, every one sparkling vvith 

 honey, and every one the same shape and size. 

 Five days later I slipped a super under this, and 

 they gave me 54 sections of beautiful honey from 

 this August swarm. 



For the last few seasons I have been raising the 

 supers and putting empties below and enjoying 

 the pleasure of seeing those lower supers nearly 

 all evenly started; but there must be a large force 

 of bees first. In fact, you must have a surplus 

 of a surplus of bees. 



Dr. Miller, will you please tell us in what part 

 of the super to put the bait sections when we do 

 not use an excluder.'' 



Bradshaw, Neb. 



.♦-•-••••♦♦*-' 



CUBA 



Not Desirable as a Place of Residence for 

 American Citizens. 



BY FRANK REIMAN. 



Receiving many inquiries concerning Cuba I 

 would say that one who can make a living in the 

 United States is better off there; and those who 

 can't will surely starve here. The $500 that had 

 been promised me for about $1500 damages by 

 revolutionists was cut down to $17.50. I had 

 the check for nearly a year, fighting the govern- 

 ment for the $500, but could do no better, and 

 got the check for $17.50 cashed to help pay about 

 $50.00 expenses. 



It should be remembered that only Spanish is 

 spoken in Cuba, and one who can not speak that 

 language can not get along except in Havana, 

 where there are about 5000 Americans. Outside 

 of this city I don't think there are 300 in Cuba 

 who can speak English. 



Cuba is all right to visit in the winter time; 



but in summer one can not get through the mud. 

 There are no roads. 



WHY THE HONEY BUSINESS HAS GONE TO SMASH. 



I don't think there is a place now in the north- 

 ern provinces where one can keep bees without 

 feeding. Fire is fast doing away with the hon- 

 ey plants and trees. Every man, woman, and 

 child smokes and throws the cigar-stumps any- 

 where, resulting in millions of dollars' loss year- 

 ly from such carelessness. 



The honey crop is about half of that of last 

 year. There was too much drouth in the sum- 

 mer. 



Manzanillo, Cuba. 



IMPORTANCE OF URGING THE USE 

 OF HONEY AS A DAILY FOOD. 



BY J. H. BURKHOLDER. 



I have been a constant reader of Gleanings for 

 about twenty-five years. My father used to keep 

 a number of colonies in box hives, but I had 

 them transferred to movable-frame hives as soon 

 as I could handle the bees, and a part of my 

 work on the farm was to look after them. In 

 those days we had the common black bees, as 

 fierce as hornets and as bold as lions. Whenever 

 I heard some one call from the house that the 

 bees were swarming I would get my armor on 

 and prepare for war. This armor ordinarily con- 

 sisted of a heavy coat, buttoned tight at the neck, 

 with a veil tucked inside; strings were tied around 

 my wrists and ankles, and I always wore a thick 

 pair of mits. How I used to sweat! It makes 

 me shudder when I think of the stings of those 

 times. 



The hive I now use is entirely different from 

 regular hives, for it is nearly cubical in shape; 

 and if space would permit I would give some 

 good reasons why I prefer this style of hive. 



To one who is just starting out in the bee busi- 

 ness, or to one who keeps just enough bees to get 

 honey for home use, I would say, " Get busy, 

 and increase the bees." There is money in bees 

 if they are given the right care. The only armor 

 necessary is a good smoker^and, in some cases, a 

 veil. If bees are handled quietly they will be 

 more gentle. 



In this part of Ontario our honey-flow is over 

 in two to four weeks During the rest of the 

 season the bees bring in only enough for their 

 own use. We get most of the surplus honey 

 from clover and basswood. 



I sell most of my honey in one, three, and five 

 pound glass jars. The three and five pound sizes 

 are the ordinary one and two quart fruit-jars. 

 These make good packages, for people do not ob- 

 ject to paying for jars that they can use after the 

 honey is gone. I use the straight screw-top jel- 

 ly-jars for the one-pound size. On my label I 

 urge the use of honey as a daily food, and I find 

 that, where I used to sell a few pounds to be used 

 as a luxury, I now sell, to the same parties, fifty 

 to one hundred pounds for the year's supply. 

 The winter's supply of apples, potatoes, etc., is 

 ordered at one time, and why shouldn't honey be 

 bought in the same way.' 



Binbrook, Ont., Canada. 



