1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



361 



160 pounds of honey, partly because I am a 

 beginner and partly because this is a poor 

 hcney country; for in spite of the fact that 

 our earliest flowers are now blooming (al- 

 mond-trees here bloom usually about the 

 middle of February), yet we always have 

 our winter weather in March— cold freezing 

 nights— which frequently kills the peaches. 

 The coldest weather we have here freezes 

 about half an inch of ice on a wash-basin 

 full of water s=t out of doors all night; so, 

 although last February my hives were chock 

 full of new manzanita honey, the bees bare- 

 ly managed to get through March, for the 

 early honey- flow starts brood- raising in ear- 

 nest; and after the congenial weather sets 

 in, while we have oceans of wild flowers 

 there is comparatively little honey, and that 

 quite inferior. After May we have little or 

 no rain or dew for six months. 

 Applegate, Cal. 



STRAWS FROM THE WEST INDIES. 



A Uniter; Swarm-catcher; Ants in South 

 America ; Bees in Africa. 



BY W. K. MORRISON. 



The man who goes in for wax production 

 as a profitable business has no time to waste 

 ■on fussirxg and massing v/ith old dirty combs. 

 The right way is to have none but new "vir- 

 gin" comb, and thereby make a short cut 

 to success. It is one of the finest things a 

 tropical bee-keeper can learn. 



Some who oppose the use of perforated 

 zinc in tropical locations do not realize its 

 value as a queen preserver. When it is not 

 used too often, queens get lost during the 

 honey harvest. While the combs are being 

 withdrawn, queens are apt to get excited, 

 "lose their heads," and get hopelessly lost. 

 This is a condition, not a theory, with me. 



Some are expecting great things to happen 

 in San Domingo, that bee-man's paradise, 

 as a result of President Roosevelt's interest 

 in the affairs of that unhappy republic. It 

 owes its value as a bee country to two great 

 bee- plants — logwood and mahogany. It also 

 has a rich flora. The country is healthy, but 

 it is better not to say anything about the so- 

 cial, religious, and educational facilities. It 

 may be added, too, that there are good bee 

 locations in Porto Rico, canal zone, and 

 Hawaii, that are going a-begging. 



If one wishes to keep well informed on 

 the prices of all tropical produce, including 

 honey and beeswax, the best thing to do is 

 to subscribe to the Public Ledger, of Lon- 

 don, England. Two or three live bee-keep- 

 ers might club together if the price is too 

 much for one pocketbook. It pays to keep 

 well posted from a reliable disinterested 

 source. It constitutes a sort of commercial 

 education to study such a publication from 



week to week. It serves also to give confi- 

 dence to a bee-keeper when he sees what 

 others can obtain for their produce, and 

 makes him more determined than ever to 

 get similar prices. 



A railroad is in course of construction in 

 Ecuador from Guayaquil to Quito, a distance 

 of 300 miles. It will in all probability be 

 constructed in three years. This will help 

 on a solution of the stingless-bee problem, 

 as it runs through a region rich in insects, 

 animals, and plants; moreover, each valley 

 down there has its own individual species. 

 This is due to the lofty ridges which sepa- 

 rate each valley just as effectually as one is- 

 land is separated from another by the ocean. 



There is no more useful apicultural tool 

 than a swarm-catcher, yet many get along 

 without one. Some think it isn't practical, 

 as it wont hold a full swarm; but that is 

 unnecessary. The largest swarms can be 

 corraled all right, and that is all it need do. 

 A good way for the tropical bee-master is 

 to invest in three or four catchers, and 

 mount them on bamboo poles of different 

 lengths, say 15, 25, 35, and 50 feet. It is a 

 comforting thing to know one is ready for 

 any emergency in the way of an unexpected 

 swarm beyond one's easy reach. 



I wonder why no one advertises a bee- 

 uniter. Mr. Danzenbaker describes one in 

 his "Facts About Bees; " but so far no one 

 seems to have thought it worth while to 

 make one for sale. A uniter is a very 

 useful contrivance when used rightly, par- 

 ticularly in holding down increase, and hav- 

 ing a few on hand saves time; besides, ev- 

 ery bee-keeper is not mechanic enough to 

 make such things offhand; also the nec- 

 essary materials are unprocurable in most 

 parts of the tropics. [We would be glad to 

 have you describe the one you have in mind. 

 Perhaps you refer to the one described by 

 Mr. Danzenbaker. — Ed.] 



Africa has all sorts of bees belonging to 

 the genus A'pis. Nearly all the modern ex- 

 plorers, from Mungo Park to Emim Pasha, 

 have referred to them. Schweinfurth seems 

 to have paid more attention to them than 

 most of the great explorers. Some of the 

 lesser explorers paid considerable attention 

 to the large apiaries in East Africa. The 

 bees in northern Transvaal and beyond re- 

 semble our hybrids. Reunion fl,nd Madagas- 

 car have distinct species. Possibly some 

 are better than ours. Many will, like the 

 writer, appreciate the very excellent articles 

 on Southwest Texas, by Mr. Scholl. He in 

 part shows the immensity of the United 

 States. Mr. Scholl does not say it, but the 

 coast of Texas is famous for its fish, oys- 

 ters, and game, quite equal to any thing the 

 world can show. The Aransas Pass section 

 is celebrated all around the world as an an- 

 gler's paradise. But the whole coast of the 



