189"J 



(JIJOAXl XC.S IN 1 IKE CULTURE. 



651 



[Our oorrt'spondcnt lias limii^rlit up a maltci- 

 tliat sorely iiiM'ds I'ornH'tion. We do not tliiiiU 

 that those who have adviTtised queens of the 

 five-banded typ<' iiHdiit to inisi-cprescMit: hut 

 the wording of th(Mf advertisements in sonio 

 eases is niisleadiufj. Hees of the live-handed 

 sort are a rarity, and purchasers should not ex- 



f)ect the untestt'd and many of the tested (pieens 

 II the "live-handed ads" to produce live bands. 

 Most of the bees, as wo know from experience. 

 will be only real yellow three-banded bees with 

 a small per cent of five-banded bees sprinkled 

 iti.l 



CUBAN APIARIES. 



A STUDY IN ETHNOI,OOV. 



Dear Mr. Root:— I have put an elaborate title 

 across the head of this sheet, and feel like writ- 



er climate and not in the tropics. But to this I 

 can testify. 



Now. the jioint I want to make Is this: If our 

 friend and Ms wife (for she had a hand in it too, 

 who are foreii,Miers in that country can accom- 

 plish so much in spite of many other duties, and 

 in spile of being foreigners, "what may we ex- 

 I)(>ct from one born iti that beautiful island, and 

 free from the cares of an exacting business? I 

 will not attempt to answer this question, but 

 will merely put one fact in evidence. 



It was my fortune to enjoy the hospitality of 

 Mr. and Mrs. Law a year ago last winter. This 

 was when their apiary consisted of a single col- 

 ony. While with them they took me on a long 

 journey over the island — a never-to-he-forgot- 

 ten trip. \Vf)uid I could tell you of the i)alrns, 

 the ceibas, and the — but I am writing about 

 Cuban apiaries. 



Well, we found one— a real pure-blooded Cre- 



A "full-blooded" CUBAX Al'IAHY, 



ing a monograph under it. But the pre.-s of 

 other matters warns me that this must be mere- 

 ly a squib. The insijiration to write comes from 

 reading in (Jlkanings of Aug. 1st a letter from 

 my friend and college liiate. Mr. B. W. Law. of 

 Havana. Cuba. In this letter friend I>aw tells 

 you how his apiary has increased in eighteen 

 months from one colony to over thirty, and that 

 they have produced 724(J lbs. of honey. He tells 

 you. also, that this increase has taken place in 

 spite of an absence of three months, during 

 ■which the bees received only the attention of a 

 friend who could see to them only at infrequent 

 intervals. He does not tell jou what I feel 

 ought to be said in order that you may under- 

 stand the matter — how fully his own time is oc- 

 cupied with the demands of an extensive and 

 exacting business — a business that would wear 

 out a less vigorous man, even were he in a cool- 



ole apiary — not a hybrid. Yankee aflfair such as 

 Mr. Law describes in his letter. It was in an 

 orange-grove, near a magnificent group of palm- 

 trees. The golden fruit loaded the trees and 

 covered the ground. Saucy wild flowers poked 

 their heads fairly into the hives; and the hives, 

 in return, stuck out their white tongues of 

 comb. I will not attemjit to describe the scene. 

 Fortunately we had a camera with us, so I can 

 send you a picture of this wonderful apiary. 



J. H. COMSTOCK. 



Cornell University. Ithaca, N. Y., Aug. 4. 



[Many thanks, friend C, for your brief com- 

 munication, and especially for your cut of the 

 apiary showing us plainly the oranges on the 

 trees, and the flowers that do really poke them- 

 selves almost into the hives. What a field for 

 enterprise and thrift indeed I Now, when the 



