916 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



again unless he knows just what to do and 

 how to do it. 



The advisability of first coming here to 

 visit those of us who have large apiaries, of- 

 fering a fair price for information that has ta- 

 ken us years to acquire ; inquiring into and 

 studying the conditions that go to make up a 

 successful year or crop ; acquainting oneself 

 first with the most successful hive in use here, 

 together with the other fixtures that go to 

 make up a large apiary ; the best strain of 

 bees for a winter honey-fiow, and many other 

 important hints that they might pick up, 

 which would be of vast importance to a be- 

 ginner here, all of this had never been taken 

 into consideration until it was too late. After 

 one has spent thousands of dollars, and 

 brought here carloads of fixtures which may 

 be all right at home but not in Cuba, the 

 sad truth dawns at last, and the new comer be- 

 comes fully aware of the fact that he has 

 made a bad mistake. He returns home and 

 paints a dark picture of bee-keeping in Cuba 

 among his friends, saying, "I have made a 

 miserable failure of it, lost all I put into it, 

 and am thoroughly disgusted and discouraged. 

 If you will profit by my sad experience you 

 will stay where you are. It is unmercifully 

 hot ; the fleas will eat you alive ; it rains every 

 day, and the ground is so sticky you can't 

 step out of the house without sticking fast. 

 Take my advice, and stay at home and leave 

 well enough alone." That is about the way 

 their story runs. 



Well, take my advice too— one who has liv- 

 ed here 12 years — and stay at home unless you 

 first come here and find out which is the best, 

 what are the difficulties to be battled with, 

 how to best fight them, whether or not you 

 like the climate, and the insects which find 

 the rich red blood of the new comer, the very 

 best stimulant for a good appetite. When I 

 hear of these big places starting up under per- 

 fectly green management with a liberal sprin- 

 kling of foul brood as a side dish, I merely 

 shake my head and feel the deepest sympathy 

 for them, for my long experience here has 

 taught me only too well what the ultimate re- 

 sult will be in nine cases out of ten. Remem- 

 ber, one hundred dollars may save you several 

 thousand ; that a reaction will come before 

 long is certain ; then we shall see who are the 

 successful ones. 



The surplus season is now at hand, and the 

 bees are in the best condition I ever saw them 

 at this time. They are fully two weeks ahead 

 of what they used to be here on this range 

 before the war. I shall commence extracting 

 on Monday, October 15, ten days earlier than 

 we ever commenced here, and that was the 

 year we took 73,000 lbs. from 600 hives in five 

 months. 



Punta Brava de Guatao, Cuba, Oct. 10. 



[Mr. H. G. Osburn is a son of the late A. W. 

 Osburn, who for some years conducted an ex- 

 tensive bee ranch in Cuba. The senior Os- 

 burn is the only one who ever operated a 

 steam honey-extractor, the diameter of the 

 reel of which was something like 8 feet. It 

 was with this mammoth machine that he took, 



if I am correct, 73,000 lbs. in 5 months. The 

 junior Osburn worked with his father during 

 this time, and is not without some knowledge 

 and experience concerning the resources of 

 the island. His advice to make a preliminary 

 trip before migrating to that unknown land 

 with its unknown difficulties is good. No one 

 should ever think of " pulling up stakes," 

 taking his all, and chancing every thing in a 

 move to a new locality, much less go to a cli- 

 mate that is essentially different from the one 

 in which he has been brought up. I am 

 planning to make a trip into Cuba in Februa- 

 ry, to see and know for myself some of the 

 peculiar conditions. I'll give due announce- 

 ment of the time I shall arrive, and where. — 

 Ed.] 



HIVING SWARMS BACK IN THE HIVE FROM 

 WHICH THEY CAME. 



Bleaching Comb Honey a Success. 



BY MRS. D. A. HIGGINS. 



Upon reading an article of Mr. Doolittle's 

 about this matter I thought it might be well 

 for me to give my experience in this Hne. 

 About four years ago we were having quite a 

 good honey harvest, and about the first of 

 June my bees took the swarming fever, leaving, 

 as Mr. Dooliltle says, many boxes of honey 

 partly finished. At first I was at a loss to 

 know what to do, as I was quite a new begin- 

 ner in business. At last I resolved to try the 

 plan of returning the swarm to the same 

 colony whence it came ; and as soon as a 

 swarm would come out I would go to the hive 

 that it came from, remove all the queen-cells, 

 take out two or three cards of honey from the 

 brood-chamber, and place foundation-frames 

 in the place of them. This seemed to satisfy 

 the bees perfectly. They would soon draw 

 out the foundation ; and in being allowed to 

 make new comb they seemed to have no in- 

 clination to swarm again. I returned several 

 swarms in this way, and none of them ever 

 came out the second time. I now fear no 

 trouble in being able to get along without loss 

 of time in case of swarming. The bees seem 

 to work better after than before swarming. 

 These cards of honey taken from the hive to 

 make room for the foundation can be placed 

 in some weak colony, or thrown out in the ex- 

 tractor. 



I live where the bleaching process for comb 

 honey is adopted, and think it a great success. 



Bonsall, Cal., Oct. 27. 



[The plan you describe is all right, and a 

 modification of it is practiced generally by the 

 most progressive bee-keepers. It is the rule, 

 however, to hive the swarm on the old stand 

 on foundation only, giving no combs or brood. 

 This, with what is left of the parent colony, 

 together with the old hive, are put in another 

 location. 



I am pleased to know about the bleaching. 

 If you can give us any further information 

 than what has already been printed I should 

 appreciate it much. — Ed] 



