1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



215 



processes go on year after year, producing 

 accumulations after a time that are a surprise 

 when one attempts to " make beeswax," and 

 finds but little more wax, or at least is unable 

 to separate little more, than he would from a 

 wasp's nest, but in its place slumgum. 



Now, that bees are capable of shifting these 

 accumulations, or a part of them, with more 

 or less wax from one part of the hive to an- 

 other, or from the brood-chamber to the super, 

 is evident if we take a comb from a populous 

 hive with old combs, in spring, while honey 

 is scarce, and replace with an empty frame. 

 We shall soon have a new comb in the place 

 of the one removed ; but how different from 

 one made of virgin wax ! In color we are at 

 once reminded of " travel-stain," for the color 

 is almost identical with that of the so called 

 travel-stain in boxes of surplus honey. It 

 would be absurd to say that the bees had built 

 this comb out of travel-stain, or even to sup- 

 pose that they had built it of virgin wax, and 

 changed its color so quickly by traveling over 

 it, for the whole character and texture are 

 different. 



It seems evident that both pollen and pro- 

 polis have become mixed with the wax and 

 cocoons of old combs in a way to give them 

 their dark color; and when wax is scarce they 

 will be thinned down, and the extra used 

 either in building new comb in the brood- 

 chamber or when mingled with new wax used 

 for finishing new combs in surplus boxes. 

 Of course this is not always the case, for the 

 color of the cappings may come from propolis 

 alone, or, as is sometimes the case, from 

 freshly gathered pollen. 



It is not surprising that some should think 

 it may come from the clustering of young bees 

 on new comb, as suggested by Mr. Comeau, 

 of Henryville, Quebec, as combs are likely 

 to be stained most when young bees are 

 hatching rapidly while but few larvae are 

 being sealed up; but this theory is contradict- 

 ed by the fact that we often find our combs 

 colored as fast as sealed — in fact, sealed with 

 colored wax. 



And now to recapitulate, I believe it may 

 be safely stated : 



1. That stained combs come sometimes, 

 though rarely in this section, from pollen car- 

 ried into the hives on the bodies of bees, which 

 for some reason they have not made into pel- 

 lets, as may be proved by examining the pollen 

 and the stained combs. 



2. By the use of freshly gathered propolis, 

 or of minute particles of propolis gathered 

 from the body of the hive or elsewhere, and 

 mingled with cappings, and is very common, 

 as may be proved by examining the cappings 

 through a glass, or melting up a large quanti- 

 ty and observing the propolis that will separate. 



3. The most frequent cause, perhaps, in 

 this section, is the use, in capping of surplus 

 combs, of impure wax from the brood-cham- 

 ber, caused by the mingling with it of pro- 

 polis, pollen, the cocoons of young bees, and, 

 under some circumstances, it may be the 

 excrements of worms or bees, or moldy combs, 

 and often used first in the capping of brood, 

 and, later, in the super. 



[As this article is quite in line with the in- 

 vestigations of Cheshire, and quite agrees with 

 some of the experiments of some of our best 

 men, I think we may safely set it down that 

 most of the propositions above elucidated are 

 fairly well proven. — Ed.] 



CUBA. 



Its Drawbacks, Troubles, and Privations; Fevers; 



Wax-moth; Fleas; Reptiles, etc.; a Very 



Interesting and Readable Article. 



BY W. W. SOMERFORD. 



" As I am anxious to learn all about Cuba in 

 the way of honey-production" is a fair sam- 

 ple of the letters that are dropping in from 

 prominent bee-men. I now have two before 

 me from Mr. F. Danzenbaker, of hive fame, 

 and also 20 winters' experience in Florida, 

 with bees and oranges ; and for a practical 

 questioner he minutely fills the bill, and es- 

 pecially asks for "drawbacks," troubles, and 

 " privations." 



1. Is there danger from banditti ? 



There is not at present any danger from 

 banditti, and never has been, except for the 

 very rich man ; and as bee-keepers don't class 

 that way down in my country, I think a per- 

 son can, as a general rule, if he chooses, sleep 

 with his doors and windows open, except dur- 

 ing the rainy season; then it's best to keep 

 them shut, to keep out dampness, the chief 

 cause of sickness in Cuba, and the only draw- 

 back to the bees to keep them from booming 

 the year round. The rainy season, though, 

 lasts generally three months, and rain, some 

 raw, does not skip a day, during the 90 

 days. Then the bee keeper has his patience 

 tried, for some of his bees won't work in 

 the rain, especially if black; and if he does 

 not feed starvation is the result, though I 

 have never yet seen or heard of a hive of 

 Italians starving in Cuba during the rainiest 

 times — times when it rained so much and so 

 incessantly that every thing was soaked with 

 dampness, so that bound books, even, were 

 coated over with green mold in a non-leaky 

 house, while grass grew green and tassled on 

 top of the house. 



2. Malaria, fevers, etc. 



Cuba is not a malarious country. Moss 

 does not even grow there on trees, as it does 

 here south with us; and the verdict of the 

 American population who have remained in 

 Cuba for years is that it is healthy. It can 

 not be otherwise, swept as it is by sea breezes 

 almost continually, being so narrow. 



3. Wax-moths, etc. 



They are plentiful the year round, but they 

 give the modern bee-keeper no more trouble 

 in Cuba than here south, except in comb 

 honey, and that should be shipped north be- 

 fore March, as the crop is harvested by that 

 time. The moths come in November, Decem- 

 ber, January, and February, December and 

 January being the best months for honey. 



4. How is honey kept from getting thin ? 

 The extracted honey is nearly always sold 



in February or March, before rain sets in. 



