is.t: 



O LEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



6'.)9 



hiiildin.u;. thieves imisl ,uo Ihrouiih three locks. 

 Tlio wliole buiUiintj holds % colonies. 

 Shecnwater, N. V.. An-. !1, l.S«»7. 



^[Frotii an architfctural point of view your 

 house-apiary is very pretty ; but from a pock- 

 etbook point of view I am afraid it would be 

 out of the reach of the majority of bee-keep- 

 ers. The present price of honey renders it 

 absolutely necessary, if the bses are to pay all 

 expenses and give a profit besides, that a 

 house-apiary should be built as economically 

 as possible. Mr. F. A. Salisbury has a build- 

 ing about 12 X 60, gable roof, which will hold 

 as many colonies as yours, and which proba- 

 bly cost less than a fourth as much. Still, 

 there may be some located in the cities who 

 are not so much after the profit as they are for 

 the pleasure of bee-keeping. To such a one 

 the house-apiarv above will commend itself. — 

 Ed.] 



BEE-KEEPING IN BANANA LAND. 



SdiiK' Interesting Facts About the Flora. 



HY H. G. BURXET. 



There is no tract of land in the world, of 

 the same size, that I know of, that has as 

 diversified a climate and soil as this island of 

 Jamaica. This diversity is very pronounced, 

 so that, in a journey of a few miles, one can 

 pass from arid plains to where there is a rain- 

 fall of sufficient amount to keep vegetation in 

 luxuriant growth the year through. These 

 conditions are brought about by the peculiar 

 topography of the island, in coinl)ination with 

 the northea.st trade-winds. . The range of high 

 mountains through the center of the island 

 causes most of the rain to fall on the north 

 and central portions, while on the south side 

 there are districts where the rainfall does not 

 exceed ten or twenty inches, and on the 

 mountain-tops and north side it is from 80 to 

 loO inches a year. 



On the dry Liguanea plains on the south 



sides there is a very interesting honey flora, 

 the most noted being a variety of acacia, 

 locally known as "cashaw," that blooms 

 twice a year — in May, and again in August 

 and September, and that grows luxuriantly 

 all over the dry plains. The honey from this 

 source is thick and white, and of very fine 

 flavor, nuicli like wliite-ciover honey. Then 

 there is the lignum vitie, logwood, and quite 

 a long li.st of trees, plants, and vines that 

 yield more or less honey ; and, when .seasons 

 are favorable, very large yi-lds are obtained — 

 so large, in fact, that it is almost inipo.ssible 

 to overstock the range, and large apiaries pay 

 well. 



In the dry districts the flows are very dis- 

 tinct, and great skill is needed to keep bees 

 strong at the proper time to catch the full 

 benefit of the yield; for often for weeks bees 

 will get nothing; then the cashaw or logwood 

 blooms suddenly open, and fairly drips with 

 nectar ; and the careless bee-keeper will lose 

 nearly all of it while the bees are raising a 

 force strong enough to gather the abundant 

 harvest. So it is often the case that he goes 

 to work and extracts too closely, and his bees 

 starve or abscond, or "the moth" plays 

 havoc, and "bee-keeping doesn't pav-." But 

 there are some wide-awake apiarists who have 

 the best mo:lern appliances, and are quietly 

 increasing the number of colonies, and start- 

 ing out-apiaries, and who will surely reap a 

 well-deserved liarvest. In the district about 

 Spanish Town there is complaint that the 

 hundreds of acres being cleared up and plant- 

 ed to bananas — under irrigation — is reducing 

 the flows very materially ; but there are large 

 areas still untouched. Cocoanut palms also 

 yield honey, as do nearly all of the palm 

 family. 



Leaving the plains, and getting up into the 

 hills, we .find a more varied flora ; for the 

 rainfall is greater, and, with decent care, bees 

 will never need feeding, as they often do on 

 the dry plains, for there are nectar-yielding 

 plants in bloom all the year round. Logwood, 

 which is found sparingly on the dry plains, 

 here grows with great luxuriance, and is found 

 in nearly all the pastures on the great cattle- 

 ranches — here called "pens" — -winch abound 

 throughout the island. 



About Christmas, bees get more or less 

 honey from a convolvulus-like bloom called 

 " Christmas pop," that stimulates brood-rear- 

 ing, which is of great value, as it puts the 

 bees in good shape, if properly managed, for 

 the harvest from log^vood in January and 

 I'ebruary, which lasts from four to eight 

 weeks. Oranges abound in many parts of the 

 island, and, where plentiful, give considerable 

 honey, following closely after the logwood. 



The list of nectar-yielding plants in the 

 hills is quite a large one, including many 

 large trees as well as small weeds and vines. 

 A good many swarms have escaped to the 

 rocks and many caves that are found through- 

 out the hill country. With the facilities of 

 good roads — none better anywhere — and con- 

 venient railway transportation, it is a wonder 

 some of the apiarists on the plains have not 

 moved their bees into the hill countrv after 



