1891. 



THE AMHi;i('A.\ BEE-KEEPEB. 



n 



or less dollars and cents into the bee- 

 keeper's pockets. 



The hee-keeping fever has broken 

 out anew again this year, and it is 

 growing fast, and unless it is checked 

 soon I am afraid we will have more 

 orders for queens and swarms than we 

 fill. Cuba, I think, is the best honey 

 country left for the bee man and 

 could produce more honey than the 

 whole United States, if there was good 

 judgment used on all sides. For if 

 our own experience is worth anything, 

 apiaries of 500 colonies can be located 

 only seven miles apart in almost any 

 part of this country, and although 

 ours is the largest apiary in Cuba, we 

 have been told that this is about as 

 poor a site for bees as could be found. 

 When this place was started the coun- 

 try was all grown up to brush and 

 was used for a grazing country. 



The outlook for bee-keeping is the 

 best this spring it has been for several 

 years, and unless I am very much 

 mistaken, we will have a good trade 

 this summer in the shape of queens 

 and supplies, for we have a small sup- 

 ply of smokeis, brushes, hives, etc. on 

 hand, and shall order more as soon as 

 we see that they will sell. 



We are now starting two new apiar- 

 ies for Cuban gentlemen, but they ex- 

 pect to have Americans manage them 

 next year, for unless there is a man 

 with them who will attend to his busi- 

 ness it is almost money thrown away, 

 for the moths are 80 bad here in the 

 fall that a colony that is strong today 

 may become queenless, and in two 

 weeks time the combs are all destroy- 

 ed by this pest of all pests in bee-keep- 

 ing. It is necessary to be continually 

 on the watch from one day's end to 



to another, but then if you have 

 enough bees and have them in good 

 shape when the season opens, you may 

 hope to get paid for your labor, and 

 will doubtless find that at the end of 

 the season when you sum up the result, 

 that your crop is a round 50,000 

 pounds or more. It should not be 

 less for the curses of this country will 

 not allow you to stay here and sacri- 

 fice every joy that is dear to an 

 American for a bit less. If one is 

 willing to come here and learn to keep 

 bees and settle down to a bachelors 

 life for say five years, he can if he is 

 fortunate, return home with a fair 

 fortune to live beneath the stars and 

 stripes. 



Wishing you all the happiness and 

 prosperity you deserve, I remain, 

 Yours very truly, 



M. G. Osburx. 



Ptinta Brava de Guatra, Cuba,W. I., 

 April 14, 1894 



The W. T. Falconer M'f'g Co.,— 



Gentlemen : I received my sections 



in good shape. They are the finest 



I ever had. The No. 2 are also good. 



Yours truly, 



John Burner. 



Iroy Centre, April 20, 1894. 



Editor American Bee-Keeper, 

 Dear Sir : — I was pleased to receive a 

 copy of your journal. It is certainly 

 a first class bee paper and is full of 

 good thing relating to bee-keeping, 

 and should be in every family where 

 bees are kept, whether they are kept 

 for profit or pleasure. 



I send you herewith 50c for one 

 year's subscription. 



Another winter is past and our bees 

 came out very bright. I wintered thir- 

 teen colonies on the summer stands. 



