TSE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPEM. 



123 



they were placed with our other sup- 

 plies during the customa^ry routine of 

 business which every foreign importa- 

 tion involves. 



The business manager of the new 

 firm, by which we were employed, be- 

 ing a Spaniard, our duties were con- 

 fined to the care of the bees, which 

 were evidently a great novelty to the 

 interested crowd, who, much to our dis- 

 comfort and the bees' displeasure, per- 

 sisted in blowing tobacco smoke 

 through the screens. Our knowledge 

 of the Spanish language rendered any 

 verbal admonition out of the question 

 entirely, though with some emphasis a 

 rebuke in our native tongue proved 

 equally as effectual. 



After a stop of three days in Havana 

 the bees were removed to the railway 

 station and under our personal care, 

 taken to Batabano, a small town on 

 the south coast, which has since been 

 demolished by the insurgents. Here 

 they were transferred to a coastwise 

 steamer for another sea voyage of 160 

 miles over the Caribbean to Cienfuegos, 

 a considerable seaport, recently adver- 

 tised extensively. Here, again, they 

 remained confined for three days while 

 we were selecting a permanent loca- 

 tion for the apiary, which was finally 

 decided upon about three miles back 

 from the city, whence they were taken 

 upon a huge native cart, placed upon 

 their new stands and liberated. Not to 

 exceed 200 bees were found dead in the 

 hives, queens were all lively and brood 

 in good condition; and during the 

 first hour of freedom in their new 

 tropical home, many returned from a 

 prospecting tour with abdomens dis- 

 tended and pollen-baskets filled. 



Our plans were to buy native colo- 

 nies, transfer them to Langstroth 

 frames and Italianize from the stock we 

 had taken from the United States; 

 hence the end of the foregoing moving 

 experience was the beginning of an- 

 other more tedious and widely differ- 

 ent. One hundred colonies of native 

 stock were now required to carry our 



arrangement into effect, and there be- 

 ing no bee-keepers in the vicinity we 

 were obliged to look them up in the in- 

 terior, from five to twenty miles dis- 

 tant, and move them upon ox-carts to 

 our new location. From the most in- 

 accessible places it was necessary to 

 "pack" them upon the back of mules. 



To de.scribe the irregular, dilapidated 

 boxes and logs with open ends, of va- 

 rious lengths and sizes, scattered about 

 the yards, which constitute "a Cuban 

 apiary," is a task that we have vainly 

 attempted in the past. The accompany- 

 ing picture which we are permitted to 

 show our readers through the courtesy 

 of Gleanings in Bee Culture, will give 

 but a meagre idea of the appearance of 

 the "average" Cuban bee-yard, as the 

 proprietor of the apiary shown was 

 evidently a man of exceptional thrift 

 and energy, as evidenced by the uni- 

 form size of "las colmenas," and his 

 his thoughtfulness in thus elevating 

 them from the ground. The conclusion 

 is strengthened by the apparent fact 

 that of the six hives shown, not to ex- 

 ceed two or three are rotten enough to 

 necessitate wrapping with rope before 

 moving, a substantial condition rarely 

 met in Santa Clara province. It will 

 serve well, however, to show exactly the 

 appearance of a small Cuban apiary, 

 with the white combs protruding from 

 the ends of two of the "skeps," and 

 shaded by orange trees. If the view 

 was from the opposite position, it is 

 quite likely the combs would be ex- 

 posed to view in the other four, as the 

 colony usually inclines to one end or 

 the other. The white flowers in the 

 foreground are probably the honey- 

 yielding bellflower, of which we will 

 have more to say in a future issue, as 

 we will also of the work of moving and 

 transferring over a hundred of these 

 native colonies, and other moving ex- 

 periences in detail, in Florida and 

 other countries. 



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