410 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Typical Porto Rican apiary. The beekeeper of the tropics has peculiar problems of his own. 



are low ; the crop has not been an average 

 one, and many of the smaller beekeepers 

 are " climbing off the bee-wagon." All this 

 will improve matters in the end for the 

 large-scale apiarist. 



One of the greatest needs of the Porto 

 Rican beekeeper is a strong association 

 which will procure supplies at a material 

 discount to the individual, and regulate, to 

 a certain extent, market prices, and stimu- 

 late a live and active interest in improved 

 methods and better management. The in- 

 terest is present, but it stagnates thru lack 

 of opportunity to exchange ideas with men 

 in the same line of business. A short-lived 

 association published a small periodical 

 which, undoubtedly, was a factor in helping 

 the island beekeeper. Its discontinuance is 

 to be regretted. 



Another handicap to better beekeeping is 

 the use of poor, nervous strains of bees. 

 This has resulted, among other things, in 

 the almost universal use of gloves and veils, 

 a practice with which the northern apiarists 

 have little patience. The discomfort of 

 heavy gloves under a tropical sun may be 

 easily imagined. 



The lack of definite knowledge in regard 

 to blossoming periods is another element 

 hindering the insular beekeeper. Not only 



do the various localities differ in this re- 

 spect because of diii'erences in altitude, 

 rainfall, etc., but the blooming periods for 

 the same locality are apparently so incon- 

 stant that only a very close observance of 

 the flora will give an idea when a certain 

 bloom may be expected. 



These difficulties of the Porto Rican bee- 

 keeper are not offered as unadulterated 

 pessimism, but only to show that the way of 

 the tropical apiarist is not the primrose 

 patli so many people imagine as they recall 

 such phrases as "luxuriant tropical bloom." 

 The beekeeper in the tropics has peculiar 

 problems of his own which, as everywhere 

 else, must be met with patience, experience, 

 and common sense. 



The bloom in Porto Rico is heavy, but is 

 apt to come on with a rush, giving the bees 

 more work than they can handle. Among 

 the principal honey-plants are moca (An- 

 dira inermis) and the leguminous trees so 

 commonly used as shade in coffee planta- 

 tions, guama {Inga laurina), and guava 

 {Inga vera, not the guava of guava-paste 

 fame). The guama is one of the best 

 sources of pollen as well as the best honey- 

 plant of the tropics. ■ It blossoms from 

 three to five times a year. 



Mayaguez, P. R. 



