1904 



GLEANINGS IN REE CULTURE. 



849 



pai'ed on the Amei-ican plan. The good book 

 tells us it is not good to eat much honey. 

 I hope the big chunks of honey that disap- 

 peared left no ill affect on the brethren. 



On page 657 J. Baptiste speaks of the hon- 

 ey crop in California, (^uba, and Cape Haiti 

 being a failure. To this list you might add 

 Jamaica, which, while not a total failure, 

 old boe-keci)ers declare it to be the pooi'est 

 ever known. Our honey varies much in 

 color and flavor, with all the gradations 

 from the fine white logwood to a deep dark. 



There is the readiest sale for all the isl- 

 and can produce, but the prices are low. 

 Logwood is 42 cents per gallon (14 lbs. to 

 the gallon) ; the darker grades are 32 cents 

 per gallon. 



I made a few observations during the past 

 season. On one occasion I found two virgin 

 queens trotting over the cluster of bees out- 

 side a populous colony. I captured one and 

 gave her to a queenless colony. The second 

 escaped among the bees. A few days later 

 a big swarm came out. 



Another strong colony cast a small swarm; 

 15 minutes later it caot another that more 

 than filled a ten-frame hive. Tearing open 

 a well-developed queen-cell I found nothing 

 but an egg. 



Early one morning I noticed a chain of 

 bees hanging in front of one of the hives. 

 I got on my knees and counted 24 in all, 23 

 hanging on to the one leg of the topmost 

 bee. Another morning I counted 29. How 

 many more there were I could not tell, as 

 they were bunched at the bottom, pendulum 

 fashion. I mused over the strength of that 

 bee's leg, and concluded it was a feat the 

 like of which I had never seen nor heard of. 

 I think it overshadows Samson carrying 

 away the gates cf Gaza. -My weight since 

 coming to Jamaica is 116 pounds. I imag- 

 ined 29 times this weight hanging on to my 

 one leg, 3364 pounds. Would the coroner 

 charge the jury to prohibit my friends from 

 viewing my remains? How did that bee do 

 it? 



The best fuel I find here for the smoker is 

 ants' nests. It is similar, I presume, to that 

 which the ingenious Japs gather en route 

 for kindling their campfires. If left un- 

 touched in the smoker it will burn for hours. 

 We have large I'ed ants here that are a ter- 

 ror to bee-keepers. Colonies need to be 

 strong to resist their onslaught. I have 

 known 50 nuclei to be annihilated in less 

 than a week. When once gaining entrance 

 they know no surrender. 



A. I. Root's little automatic greenhouse 

 seems the thing. I wish I could add to his 

 collection some of my maidenhair ferns and 

 orchids. The woods here abound with these 

 dainty creations. One of my orchids pro- 

 duced 9 flowering stems. On one stem I 

 counted over 200 flowers. It was worthy of 

 the camera. I hope, Bro. A. I. Root, there 

 will be lots of flowers in the better world. 

 If not, I shall want to visit Jamaica occa- 

 sionally in quest of its tropical beauties 



In the altitudes the climate is ideal, pleas- 

 antly cool at all seasons; but in the plains 



one less orthodox than myself would say it 

 is as hot as hades. 



Kingston, the capital, principal port, and 

 center of commerce, is said to be the second 

 hottest place on earth. I arrived here the 

 end of last November. I spent my first 

 week in Kingston. The first thing I had to 

 do was to discard completely all my Califor- 

 nia clothing and don the very thinnest ovei' 

 and under wear, and even in this attire it 

 was like living in a Turkish bath. Some cf 

 my fellow-passengers came to the city on 

 one boat, and were impatient to return to 

 Port Antonio on the next. The length of 

 days, and the temperature, vary but little 

 the whole year round. Our proximity to the 

 equator explains why. 



May Pen, Jamaica. 



[I suppose that some of our friends still 

 think the 20-lb. stones indispensable; but I 

 wish some of them could be compelled to 

 work the other way, with the bee-space and 

 thick top-bars for a season or two— without 

 a quilt or cloth -cover next to bees. Wouldn't 

 they change their minds ? 1 think they 

 would. But I very often see people who 

 continue to use an old way, and one that in- 

 volves more labor than a modern way that 

 saves bot'n time and money. When we 

 think we are the least prejudiced we are 

 the most so sometimes ; and unfortunate is 

 the man who has tried only one way and is 

 sure that that is the only way. 



We have tried hives in regular rows, all 

 facing one way; and we have tried them in 

 other ways in scientific groups, by which no 

 contiguous entrances have the same appear- 

 ance ; and our experience season after sea- 

 son shows to us conclusively that, all things 

 considered, it is better to help the bees in 

 recognizing their home, especially when they 

 are engaged in queen-rearing. I admit that 

 in Jamaica, with your heavy honey-flows it 

 would not make so much diflFerence. But 

 even in Cuba, where the conditions are much 

 the same, the majority of the Cuban bee- 

 keepers prefer to have their enti'ances so ar- 

 ranged that the bees are not only guided by 

 scent but by sight. I will admit that scent 

 is a very strong factor in determining their 

 home ; but it is probably not the only one. 



About that Bible supper, when we speak 

 in poetic language, we are supposed to have 

 poetic license, you know. —Ed.] 



CELLARS VS. OUTDOOR WINTERING. 



Having lost the greater part of my bees 



the past winter I am going to try wintering 



in the cellar. We have one, somewhat 



damp, that contains a furnace for heating 



