724 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Decembee, 1920 



here. I believe there are between two nnd 

 three times that number. There is little 

 doubt there are now too many colonies on 

 the Island, especially in certain localities. 

 Many of the apiaries are composed of hy- 

 brids, and some of them are certainly Tar- 

 tars. Nothing else can be expected when 

 you know there is no thought of improve- 

 ment of the stock by the average native 

 beekeeper. 



Bee Enemies. 



One of the great difficulties I have found, 

 is in mating queens. My experience has 

 been, averaging the year, a loss of from 30 

 to 50 per cent. This makes it rather bad 

 for the "let alone" beekeeper. 



Among the enemies of bees, we have bee 

 martin, a bee-eating swallow, and many spe- 

 cies of lizards that prey on bees, especially 

 when they are found isolated away from 

 their hives, as are virgins on their wedding 

 flight. In some sections of the Island, ants 

 are a great source of nuisance. There is one 

 variety of ant here which eats all kinds of 

 soft wood. They frequently attack the wood 

 of the hives. Fortunately they can be pois- 

 oned when found. 



When working with bees we have an oc- 



casional surprise party and chase when we 

 see a tarantula make a jump from between 

 the super cover and the metal telescope 

 cover. They sometimes attain a size of from 

 three to four inches across. 



. Fine Bee Country. 



Porto Eico should be of great value to the 

 beekeepers of the United States in shipping 

 early queens and bees to the mainland. There 

 is no foul brood on the Island, and this is a 

 decided advantage to the purchaser. Bees 

 or queens can be reared and shipped any 

 month of the year. 



Notwithstanding the difficulties enumer- 

 ated above, Porto Eico is favored as a bee- 

 keeping country. There is no foul brood, no 

 winter problem, no spring shortage of pol- 

 len, no feeding, no work with comb honey, 

 and few swarms. In addition to this the 

 Island has an unrivaled climate, making the 

 hill sections a very desirable residential lo- 

 cality. 



Aibonito, Porto Eico. 



[This article on be«keeping in Porto Rico is the 

 first of a series on beekeeping in foreign countries 

 that we hope to publish during the coming year. — 

 Editor.] 



I HOPE the ' 

 buyer as well I 



as the bee- 

 keeper will bear 

 with me in this 

 attempt at an '■ 

 analysis of the j 

 beekeeping situa- 'i 

 tion as it is to- 1 

 day. Much has « 



been said and written about the probable 

 success of the beekeeping industry, and un- 

 doubtedly much more will be said in the fu- 

 ture. But truly, friends, it is high time that 

 we quit talking and went to work. Perhaps 

 we are all guilty of being in the position re- 

 ferred to the old Indian chief who jour- 

 neyed to Washington regarding a matter his 

 tribe was interested in. After remaining for 

 some time without securing results, he re- 

 marked that it was "all talk and no do." 

 Dealers Not Awake to Situation. 



The beekeeping game is one of the most 

 interesting "sure-thing" gambles in Ameri- 

 can industry. It cannot perhaps be compared 

 with the diamond trade or Standard Oil, but 

 I believe that it could be a hundred times 

 greater than it is today without reaching the 

 limit. Why is the industry not larger than it 

 is? Perhaps the beekeeper is partly to blame, 

 but the beekeeper in general is a producer 

 and usually not a dealer. It is possible then 

 that the dealers have not been awake to the 

 situation nor have they been willing to take 

 the leadership in helping to stabilize the in- 



THE BUYER'S PART 



dealers Should Co-operate 'with 



Producers in Helping to Stabilize 



the Industry 



By H. F. Wilson 



dustry. The suc- 

 cess of the bee- 

 keeping industry 

 does not depend 

 upon the bee- 

 keeper alone, but 

 upon the honey 

 dealer as well. 

 If the honey in- 

 dustry is to be 

 large, the dealer must do the building. Make 

 it profitable to produce honey and there will 

 be plenty of beekeepers to produce the 

 honey. Advertise and place honey before the 

 people and there will be no limit to the de- 

 mand. Honey products form another field 

 which needs development, and one that will 

 use hundreds of tons of honey when thoroly 

 worked out. 



Beekeeping has too long been a "side- 

 line ' ' with the farmer beekeepers, and honey 

 a side-line with the commission merchant. 

 Buyers Should Keep Honey at Fair Price. 

 The secretary of the Wisconsin Manufac- 

 turers ' Association places beekeeping as 

 tenth among the major industries of Wiscon- 

 sin, and incidentally remarks that this was 

 the former place held by the brewing indus- 

 try. Beekeeping will continue to grow be- 

 cause the beekeepers are learning to market 

 their honey at home with a fair profit. Fur- 

 thermore, the large beekeepers are finding 

 out tliat they can market their honey with- 

 out sending it to the dealer. I do not believe 

 that this is a healthy condition, and the 



