THE BEE-KEEPERS- REVIEW 15 



till the end of February. Australia is. as I suppose you know, a 

 continent about as large as your America, with only four millions 

 of a population. 



The bee-keeper rents the tree tops from the government within 

 a mile radius of the bee 3'ard at one cent per acre. The bee range 

 law protects him from intruders and mill men. There is a large 

 scope for practical men like you have in your states, as Australia is 

 a long way down the ladder as regards bee-keeping and honey-pro- 

 ducing. 



Bee diseases are few, the worst being spring dwindling. The 

 bees disappear in the warm spring days, and abscond with hives full 

 of honey. This I put down to scarcity of pollen and old bees going 

 into winter. 



We do not have to cellar our bees, as snow is a rare sight. 



We have a foul brood law in Victoria, but there is none to speak 

 of here, as it has been checked before it got a footing. 



The production of comb honey is a thing practically unheard of 

 and I think the localities are ideal for it. I might say that Austra- 

 lians will hold out a helping hand for the mere asking, and that for 

 the adventurous and push-ahead young chap, Australia deserves his 

 thought. 



An American Beginner in Cuba. 



VETERAN BEE-KEEPERS IN CUBA. A GOOD WORD FOR THE BLACK 



BEE. SOME EXPERIENCES OF A BEGINNER. A COLONY 



OF STINGLESS CUBAN BEES. 



By JESSE H. BICKFORD, Peralta, via Calabaya, Prov. Sta. Clara. 



^^^E have some veteran bee-keepers in Cuba, and I should like 

 ^L/ to waken them up and read what they have to say. -\Ir. 

 Packwood has been in the business here for many years. 

 ^Ir. Cressy and ^Ir. Andrews of Cuba, \Mocha, have made it their 

 business for the last nine years. I had the pleasure of being a 

 neighbor and friend of these gentlemen, working wi^-h them over a 

 year and firmly contracting the bee fcA'er. 



Two months ago I started with 66 hives of black bees, that had 

 been dumped out of boxes into movable comb hives. Some had five 

 frames with only bees enough to cover three, and some only one, 

 and but one side of that covered with bees. Some had queens, some 

 none, and two or three had fertile workers, which is worse than 

 none — and, well, they were a mess. 



The first thing I did was to get rid of the fertile workers, and 

 as I had no strong colony -to' put them with, I took them out some 

 distance from the stand, having put a new hive with foundation and 



