872 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



honey. I know that some of our bee-keepers 

 are so careful that this never happens to them, 

 but I confess I can't extract every comb my- 

 self, even if I were as faultless as they, and I 

 have to rely on a more or less careful boy to 

 turn the crank. 



In short, I have just as much objection to 

 using full stories, Langstroth size, for supers, 

 as I have to using the little, shallow, four-and- 

 a-fourlh-inch toy extracting-frames, which 

 run matters to the other extreme, and make 

 too much handling for the amount of honey 

 harvested. The section-case is little enough 

 for comb honey, but its size is entirely inad- 

 equate when extracting is the aim; and if you 

 had only tried the six-inch extracting-frame I 

 know you would agree with me. 



I propose, in my next, to consider the ob- 

 jectionable features of large hives. It has 

 been lately said, by some apiarists, that I was 

 leading the folks on the wrong track, so I 

 must atone by showing you wherein our faults 

 lie. I hope I am not repeating myself too 

 much. I notice, in reading over my past 

 articles, that I might have condensed my 

 thoughts a little more, and will try to do this 

 in the future. 



Hamilton, 111. 



[I must admit that Mr. Dadant has given 

 some pretty solid arguments in favor of his 

 large single brood-chamber as against two 

 brood-chambers of eight frame capacity. If I 

 am correct, his ten-frame Ouinby hive holds 

 an equivalent of comb surface of 12 L. frames. 

 Accordingl}', then, Mr. D.'s position is that 

 two eights make four frames too many. 



In referring to his division-board, and the 

 facility he finds in reducing his brood-nest, he 

 is apparently laboring under the impression 

 that we can not similarly contract our two 

 eight-framers. All the hives we have sold for 

 years, of eight-frame capacity, have had a di- 

 vision-board as part and parcel of the hive : 

 and it is our recommendation and practice to 

 keep those division-boards in use, for the hive 

 is made just enough wider to leave space for 

 follower. In putting on an upper story, or, 

 perhaps, better still, an under story, we often 

 give only four frames extra ; and then, as the 

 bees require more room, give them the other 

 four, or one, two, or three, as circumstances 

 may require ; but more often I give the whole 

 eight frames at once because it saves labor, 

 even though it may not theoretically be the 

 best practice. 



Now, friend Dadant, when you add one 

 frame at a time to your big colonies, do you not 

 thereby make a great amount of labor ? Mr. 

 Doolittle used to argue, and perhaps does now, 

 that it is a good practice to put on only one or 

 two rows of sections at a time, and only as fast 

 as the colony can take them. While there is 

 something in this, the majority of bee-keepers 

 put on a whole super of six rows at one opera- 

 tion, because it saves labor. And there is 

 our friend H. R. Boardman, who produces as 

 much comb honey as any one in proportion to 

 the number of colonies. He puts on three 

 tiers of some 40 or •'iO sections at once. I told 

 him that this gave the bees too much space to 



warm up at the start. He admitted that there 

 was something in this, but added that his plan 

 .saved labor, and as long as he could produce 

 as much comb honey as his neighbors work- 

 ing on the other plan he preferred his own way. 

 There is one point concerning which friend 

 Dadant does not explain himself fully. By 

 reading between the lines in one paragraph I 

 gather that his large hives are not adapted to 

 comb honey. Elsewhere I get the impression 

 that he can, with them, produce as much comb 

 honey as any one. In one of his future arti- 

 cles I hope Mr. D. will give us a clear and ex- 

 plicit statement covering these points. — Ed.] 



SANTIAGO DE CUBA AS A BEE COUNTRY. 



Colonies in the Cliffs; A Few Interesting Facts. 



BY I,. F. HIORNS. 



I have just returned from Santiago de Cuba, 

 where I have been since the first of July. I 

 did not find any honey for sale there, but was 

 told that from time to time small quantities of 

 strained honey were brought in. I saw bees 

 working, but failed to find any colonies in 

 hives except at Siboney, where I found four 

 hives. These were about 8 inches square (in- 

 side measurement), 2 feet long, open at each 

 end, with a piece of burlap, having an inch hole 

 for an entrance, hanging over the ends. They 

 were on a platform about 4 ft. from the ground. 



Unfortunately they had been visited by the 

 soldiers, the honey and comb all removed, 

 and the bees destroyed except in one hive, 

 where there was about a pint of bees and a 

 piece of new comb about 4 inches square. I 

 did not disturb them, and on visiting them 

 three days later I found that some one had 

 cleaned the hive out. 



I was told by the Cubans that, before the 

 war, many of the natives had a few colonies in 

 boxes, barrels, or any thing that came handy, 

 but could get no track of any one who had 

 kept more than ten colonies. In many in- 

 stances I think I was deceived as to the num- 

 ber, it being a habit of the Cubans to tell 

 what they think will please you. 



In the caves and crevices of the cliffs along 

 the seashore are the combs of many colonies 

 of wild bees. These are visited from time to 

 time by the natives, and the combs taken 

 away. I tried to get some of the natives to go 

 with me after some of this honey, but could 

 not, being told that the men who did this 

 were still with the Cuban army. As it was 

 impossible to get to the combs without help I 

 could not examine any of these colonies. 



From what I saw and was able to learn I 

 would not advise any one to go to that section 

 of the island to locate an apiary. 



Scranton, Pa., Nov. 7. 



[Just as this goes to press, our correspon- 

 dent who is to make a trip through Cuba, and 

 report the same in Gleanings, writes :] 



I am now in Key West ; will land in Havana to- 

 morrow, with wheel and camera ; then will give you 

 some news as to what has beco:ne of modern apicul- 

 ture in Cuba, especially around Havana, to begin with. 



Key West, Nov. 15. W. W. Somerford. 



