JANUAfeV, 1S22 



OLfiA^li^GS IN bfefe OULTi^Ri; 



17 



the so-called coffee zone, which has an alti- 

 tude of from 3,000 to 4,000 feet. The cli- 

 mate is ideal for bees, and the flora is hard 

 to beat. In this zone, which is in the de- 

 l)artnient of Santa Eosa, can now be found 

 about 16 fine modern apiaries of 500 colo- 

 nies, 11 of which were formed by me, and 

 a great many others are being started on a 

 smaller scale. 



The Seasons and the Honey Plants. 

 In this country there are two distinct 

 seasons, called winter and summer by the 

 inhabitants, but in reality they should be 

 called the dry and the wet. The dry season 

 begins about October 20, and that is the 

 time when the beeman must rustle, because 

 the bees begin at once to bring in about five 

 pounds of honey daily, and by the 12th of 



color it is a light amber. The second honey 

 flow comes cliiefly from a shrub called "Suy- 

 kani. " When this is in flower it perfumes 

 the whole countryside with the most de- 

 lightful odor, and when I came here it was 

 the general opinion that this was the chief 

 source of honey. There are other trees al- 

 most equally good, among which are the 

 Ahuacati, Mango, Zai)otillo, Hoja de queso, 

 Bareto, and others; but I should say that 

 all of these combined do not give one-half 

 of that 'given by the aforementioned sage 

 called " Chinchiquasti. " 

 Increases 400% and Secures Good Honey 

 Crop. 

 In May when the rainy season begins, the 

 bees, after having been lying dormant and 

 trying to rob for about a month, again start 



Beekeepers in Guiitemala place their hives on elevated stands to avoid loss from ants and sudden deluges 



of tropical rains. 



November a good colony is bringing in from 

 ten to fifteen pounds a day. I kept a hive 

 on scales for two seasons and found the re- 

 sults the same for both years. In fact the 

 one feature of the country that cannot be 

 paralleled in any other part of the world is 

 the invariability of the seasons. There is 

 never a drought nor failure. Between the 

 20th of October and the first of November 

 one can absolutely count on the honey flow 

 to begin. It increases until about Novem- 

 ber 25, and then gradually slackens until 

 Christmas when it ends; that is to say, the 

 flow from the annual plants ends. About 

 February first another lioney flow begins 

 from tlie biennials and this continues, but 

 not so heavilv as the other, until about April 

 15. 



I should say that about 70% of the honey 

 comes from a plant called "Cliinchiquasti. " 

 It is a true sage, very much like the Cali- 

 fornia purple sage, having a blossom prac- 

 tically the same. The honev is, in my opin- 

 ion, fully equal to the California white sage 

 honey. It is quite dense and crystallizes in 

 about a month. The flavor is mild iind 

 agreeable and does not pall on the taste. In 



to thrive. A light honey flow begins, just 

 enough to keep them going; but a great 

 quantity of pollen is brought in so that by 

 June the hives are simply bubbling over 

 with young bees. This is the season that I 

 used for increasing. To give an idea what 

 can be done, I might mention that in July, 

 1918, in the plantation La Vega, owned by 

 Don Jorge Morales, I increased from 90 to 

 350 in the months of July, August and Sep- 

 tember, and obtained an average yield of 

 165 pounds to the hive from the 350 so 

 made. If one counted, by the so-called 

 spring count method, it would have made an 

 average yield of over 600 pounds to tiie 

 hive, wliich 1 dare say would almost have 

 been a record. Last year, in one of my own 

 apiaries, Los Verdes, I increased from 90 to 

 600 during the rainy season, but did not get 

 as large a yield, as I had divided a little too 

 much. However, one can count on increas- 

 ing four times and get a good honey crop 

 too, but one must be on the job every min- 

 ute because, just before the season starts, 

 we have a month of heavy rain, and if the 

 bees are not fed artificially they will be so 

 weak that they will not be in condition 



