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G L E A KINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



SET'TEirBER, 1917 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



Do Bees Rob ? 



Robbing is an infractiun of a moral law, 

 eonstituting' a felony. The bees know no 

 law except that of instinct, and they uncon- 

 sciously follow it, yet they are guided en- 

 tirely by that instinct. Langstroth says 

 (edition of 1870), ''Bees cannot under any 

 ciix'umstances resist the temptation to fill 

 themselves with liquid sweets." No more 

 clear explanation as affecting their actions 

 in this line could be given. This irresistible 

 force that compels the bee to b? constantly 

 on the search for sweets does not confine 

 their efforts to gathering nectar from flowers 

 alone. Tliey enter the hives of weak colo- 

 nies when there is little to be had from 

 flowers, and that is why them are accused of 

 robbing. When iiectar is abundant one may 

 leave honey open in the apiary all day, and 

 tliey will not molest it, for they are dis- 

 jdaying the same energy in gathering nectar 

 tliat they would in taking up honey from an 

 open bait during a dearth of nectar. 



Nature may have a hidden hand in direct- 

 ing bees from one hive to enter another. 

 When a colony is no longer able to protect 

 its stores, it is natural for a ijrovision to be 

 made that will enable the honey to be saved 

 to other bees, rather than to enemies of the 

 bee. In this provision the bees of a colony 

 at the first sign of weakness are subjecting 

 themselves to enemies of the bee, and to off- 

 set this the hive is entered by other bees 

 and the available sweets are saved. 



So beautifully are many of nature's ways 

 worked out that the real object is concealed 

 from the mind of man, and in many cases 

 our troubles with the bee is only our failure 

 to see the true course of nature. 



The queenless colony has no hope from 

 nature after all possibility of requeening is 

 ])assed; the colony is on the decline; and 

 without the aid of man it must die. So why 

 should not instinct lead other bees to save 

 that which their neighbor is too weak to 

 cai^e for, and place it where it will be saved"? 



Man is the ichief offender in causing bees 

 to go wild for sweets and attempt to enter 

 other hives for it. If they were to follow 

 their natural tendencies as provided by na- 

 ture the cleaning-out of weak colonies 

 would not excite them to so great an ex- 

 tent. But man comes along, tears off the 

 lids of their hives, leaves honey exposed to 

 their sight and smell, and excites their na- 

 tuie for acquiring sweets by the only source 

 available, even to the entering of otlier 

 hives. So they are called "robbeis." 



P. C. Chauwick. 



Beekeeping in the Island ot San Do- 

 mingo 



About the middle of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury, Captain Count de la Croix introduced 

 the first bees from Martinica, and these 

 were European bees, or, to be more precise, 

 Gei'inan bees. They multiplied very rapid- 

 ly, and before long the sale of honey and 

 wax became one of the main industries of 

 this island, first of the Rejmblic of Haiti, at 

 that time in the hands of the Trench, and 

 later on in the remainder of the island. 

 Beekeeping was developed more especially 

 in the provinces of Barahona and Bani in 

 the southern part of the island, Higuey in 

 the east, and Monte Cristy in the north. 

 Beekeeping was practiced in the most primi- 

 tive manner \\p to about fifteen years ago. 

 The colonies were simply placed in open 

 barrels, made from the trunk of the royal 

 palm, and little or no attention given after 

 tl'.at except to extract the honey and wax 

 twice a year. This was also done in the 

 most piimitive manner, many bees being 

 killed in the process. There are still many 

 of these antiquated hives to be found, 

 especially in the south and north, but mod- 

 ern beekeeping is finding its way very rapid- 

 ly into the most remote corners of this 

 republic. 



About thirty years ago a German first be- 

 gan to introduce the modern system of bee- 

 keeping in Puerta de la Fe, but did not 

 obtain very satisfactory results, and aban- 

 doned the project. Some time later Mr. 

 Alfredo Pellerano, in Manzano, made an- 

 other attempt in this direction, but this was 

 likewise unsuccessful. About the same time 

 a friend of mine started a modern apiary 

 on a small scale in Puerta Plata, using 

 Italian bees, but this met the fate of the 

 others. 



The first successful modern apiary was 

 started in 1903 by the writer; and altho this 

 has suffered many hazards, modern bee- 

 keeping has since then been firmly implant- 

 ed in this republic. 



In the beginning, of course, we had con- 

 siderable difficulty, inasmuch as we did not 

 even have any books on beekeeping in the 

 Spanish language; but this difficulty has 

 now been overcome, and the beginner, in 

 these days, finds it very much easier than 

 did the pioneers. 



In my next article I shall take up in de- 

 tail the state of the beekeei)ing industry in 

 this repul)lii' at the present time. 



Santo Domingo. Geo. Pou. 



