1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



70S 



that, two years ag'o, I planted half an 

 acre in alfalfa, which grew rank and pro- 

 duced considerable honey. I made this 

 statement in Gleanings a year or two ago. 

 I had no trouble at all in getting it to 

 grow, and the bees gathered considerable 

 honey from it. The only trouble I had was 

 in getting rid of it. In fact, there is some 

 of it here still, and likely to remain. 



Walter L. Womble. 

 Raleigh, N. C, June 20. 



[Friend Womble is an enthusiastic ama- 

 teur; and when I say " amateur " I mean 

 one who has come to be an expert from 

 mere love of the art. We have many such 

 among the professional men and suburban- 

 ites, and it is these people who, because of 

 their "pull" with the press, are going to 

 help us put down the sensational canards 

 about comb honey. 



But our correspondent is silent regarding 

 the lady who helps to adorn the picture. I 

 assume that she is the " better half," and, 

 if so, friend Womble's "right-hand man." 

 No wonder the honey is nice. — Ed.] 



CUBAN BEE KEEPER GETS INTO TROUBLE 

 WITH THE AUTHORITIES. 



Mr. George Plant, private secretary to 

 the British Minister, and who is an ama- 

 teur apiculturist, has lately had a sad ex- 

 perience with bees which ought to be a 

 warning to any intending bee- men who ex- 

 pect to come to Cuba and go into bee- rais- 

 ing. 



Mr. Plant has had his bees in the little 

 town of Guanabacoa, a surburb of Havana, 

 and which is reached by the ferry across 

 the bay. There is a municipal law which 

 is in force in nearly all the small towns of 

 Cuba, where bees are classified as " fierce 

 animals," and that no bee-man can lo- 

 cate a ranch nearer than about one fourth 

 to one-half a mile from a town. There was 

 a candy and sweet factory in Guanabacoa, 

 and the man brought a chunk of candy to 

 the ma} or, in which were embalmed a 

 goodly number of poor bees, with the re- 

 quest that the mayor enforce the law. So 

 our bee man was dulj' notified of the law, 

 and told to move within thirty days, under 

 penalty of a fine of S5.C0. Being unable to 

 find a location, and wanting to have his 

 ranch near by so that he could attend to 

 the bees himself after business hours, he 

 neglected to move within the specified time, 

 and the fine was accordingly assessed. 

 Then the ranch was moved, when Mr. 

 Plant, hearing of a possible put chaser in 

 town, moved them back to the old location 

 to show the ranch ofif to belter advantage. 

 The purchaser did not turn up. and the 

 usual fine was then assessed; and now as 

 this gentleman can not get rid of the bees, 

 and is not able to get his old location back, 

 as the owner now has use of the land, the 

 poor bees will meet an untimely death by 

 suff )3ation. 



1 would jast so'ind a note of warning to 

 any intendiag bee 1 ecpers who may want 



\o settle here. Don't get too near the toA'ns 

 or villages through the country, without 

 making all inquiries necessary beforehand, 

 or you may be compelled to move just at the 

 beginning of the honey-flow or an equally 

 inconvenient time. This apiarist now has 

 a number of supplies to sell cheap, and is 

 going to give up bee keeping as a pastime. 

 L. Maclean de Beers. 

 Havana, Cuba, June 22. 



safford's extracting-frame for un- 

 finished sections. 

 I herewith send a sketch of a very handy 

 frame for holding partly filled sections 

 while extracting. The frames (one for 

 each side of the extractor) should be made 

 of :?-sXlinch stuff, and should be made '4 

 inch larger inside than the exact size that 

 the sections would require, in order that 

 the sections may slip in and out freelj'. 

 For 4XX4X sections, make itS^+XlTj^ in- 

 side. 



As the illustration shows, the frame is 

 made in two sections, and hinged together 

 so it will open and close like a book. The 

 strips shown are of heavy tin "^4 inch wide, 

 nailed on the outside of the frame at proper 

 distances to hold the sections inside. 



To operate the frame, open it and set it 

 up in front of the uncapping-box; uncap 

 the sections and place them in the frame. 

 When full, close the frame and handle it 

 the same as an ordinary brood- frame. This 

 is the handiest arrangement I have seen for 

 this work. 



Salem, N. Y. E. Y. Safford. 



[Your extracting-frame for unfiaished 

 sections will work satisfactorily ; but a 

 simple frame of the width of the section 

 used, and just large enough to take in four, 

 will be just as good, or better, and much 

 cheaper. There is no advantage in having 

 the frame made in two parts hinged to- 

 gether, other than that the sections will be 

 held in place better. But a simple frame, 



