1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



805 



country I found 600 or more colonies of Cuban 

 bees within a league of me, in four different 

 localities. Inquiring around I learned that 

 bees sold here from three to five dollars per 

 gum. I got every thing ready, and bought 60 

 colonies, transferring them. I soon had my 

 apiary increased to 125 colonies, which now 

 kept me tolerably busy, it taking much more 

 work here for bees than in Texas, owing to 

 the fact that web-worms thrive for twelve 

 months in the year. Ants crawl unceasingly, 

 ,which are more abundant here than anywhere 

 I've ever been. There are three small varie- 

 ties that are especially fond of hives, which 

 makes Cuba all but a paradise, together 

 with three varieties of web-worms and three 

 kinds of foul brood or brood disease ( I say 

 three kinds, because I've seen these ; some of 

 my friends, American bee-keepers, say there 

 are more than three classes); but I've seen 

 brood affected thus : The larva turns black on 

 the head, and slowly dies at any stage of de- 

 velopment, but most frequently just before 

 being ready to cap, but often younger ; and, 

 again, after being capped, and nearly ready to 

 hatch, if the disease overtakes a bee at this 

 stage it simply dries out, remaining in perfect 

 form, dry and hard. If it dies in the larval 

 stage it sinks down, a watery grayish- white 

 mass, always remaining watery for some time, 

 then drying to a hard cake in the bottom of 

 the cell, but never becoming ropy. The other 

 kind that kills the brood in nearly the same 

 manner becomes more of a solid color, and, 

 when broken by touching with a stick, forms 

 in many little ropes clinging to the stick, and 

 stretches as the stick is withdrawn. In the 

 third variety the brood becomes a powder, a 

 shade darker than yellow ocher. The bees 

 soon drag it all over a comb, and all is soon 

 infected. 



The first mentioned disease is in every api- 

 ary and every log-hive ranch in this part of 

 Cuba, and, I believe, in the entire island. 

 Colonies large and strong can usually over- 

 come this disease ; but when weak it makes 

 rapid strides toward their destruction. 



The second variety is not scattered every- 

 where now, as I am informed it was before 

 the war, it having taken hold and destroyed 

 one by one many of the best ranches in Havana 

 Province, which fact is evidenced by the pile 

 of empty hives in the Agricultural and Me- 

 chanical College grounds, at the fine Casanova 

 ranch at Jaruco, a ranch at Guanabacoa, and 

 several others, and is now doing its work with 

 some other ranches that I'll not here mention. 



The third disease, as far as I've learned, 

 seems to be a new comer. I was in an apiary 

 some 20 miles from my location some three 

 weeks ago, where the proprietor had a great 

 tank of combs in soak to render into wax la- 

 ter, they being well filled with this powdered 

 larva. He showed me other hives he was 

 watching and experimenting on that were just 

 becoming infected. Of all the diseases he had 

 seen, this destroyed quickest. 



Returning to the subject, my bees produced, 

 after buying the 50, which increased my ranch 

 to 125 hives, 950 gallons of honey, or an aver- 

 age of 76 lbs. per hive. I did not extract from 



all the hives, though, for some never got rea- 

 dy in time. Thus you see my results were no 

 better than I obtained in Texas, where I could 

 produce honey at a great deal less cost than 

 the same amount |.roduced here. I find it 

 here as in the States — one always hears of 

 some one else doing great things. This hear- 

 say plan kept my ambition up for some time 

 in Texas, but I am afraid it won't do so well 

 here, because I hear of others doing much 

 worse than has been my lot I increased in 

 spring up to 250, of which I have lost 30, and 

 have been feeding too. I have fed nearly 150 

 gallons of honey. This will carry my bees 

 another week, then I will buy sugar to feed 

 on for the next month and a half, or until the 

 15th of September. I am told that by that 

 time the bees can obtain their own living. 



I became discouiaged day before yesterday, 

 having a nice little hive abscond. I mounted 

 my wheel, and went down to where a friend 

 has an apiary of 850 hives, who was feeding 

 sugar when I was last there, some five weeks 

 ago. I found him still at the same trade, feed- 

 ing three sacks of sugar a week. We swap- 

 ped troubles, which is always some satisfac- 

 tion, it being a long-established truth that 

 "misery loves company." While with my 

 friend he had one hive leave. Returning 



home in the evening to feed my bees I found 

 that I had lost one hive that day also. I have 

 decided that other things are to be found in 

 Cuba besides " milk and honey." 



Feeling it my duty to give your readers ray 

 entire experience here, and finding, after read- 

 ing my article over, that I had failed to tell of 

 the cyclone, I therefore beg to add the follow- 

 ing : 



This being the rainy season, we've had a 

 shower, a rain, or a flood, almost every day 

 for two months, the rain coming from any di- 

 rection, and under various conditions, often 

 preceded by terrible winds, one of which 

 stri'ck my place some five weeks ago, coming 

 down the valley from above, blowing one of 

 my sheds to pieces, under which I have my 

 bees, overturning several hives, besides blow- 

 ing one end of my house down, and blowing 

 down a dozen or two banana-trees. I was told 



