1178 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15 



Iv pure stoc-k of any race sold. How could 

 ttat be done with Caucasians if all queens of 

 that race are elippeil and their drones con- 

 fined by perforated metal? No, the ol)ject 

 sought 'is to stock the locality with Cauca- 

 sian drones, so only pure stock would be 

 sold. 



As to the great superiority of Italians, 

 there has always been a (juestion. Niver, 

 Benton, Lockhart, and others have stoutly 

 maintained that Carniolans are better. It is 

 largely a question of locality and methods 

 employed, perhaps. 



In Central California we usually have light 

 dashes of honey and unsettled weather so 

 blended that bees breed up well and swarm 

 freely. Late in May a honey-dearth sets in 

 whic'h lasts till the middle of June or possi- 

 bly in July, when our honey season com- 

 mences, aiid it ends in September or Octo- 

 ber. Mr. Alexander would probably feed 

 through the dearth, and it might be the prop- 

 er plan. With "millions of honey" in the 

 hive, as Mr. Doolittle recommends, Italians 

 will so weaken that they are in poor condi- 

 tion for the harvest when we get it. After 

 Rambler had kept bees in New York and 

 Southern, Northern, and Central California, 

 he said Central C'alifornia conditions were 

 the most difficult that he had experienced. 

 Both Holy Land and Carniolans have the 

 reputation of keeping brood-rearing up dur- 

 ing a dearth, which should relieve the diffi- 

 culty largely; but the Holy Land bees w^hich 

 I bought "from various breeders in the South 

 were all too cross to be considered. I never 

 saw a Caucasian bee, and do not know their 

 nature; l)ut I should not wonder if they 

 would suit our own conditions l)etter than 

 Italians. I have no intenti;)n of trying them, 

 however. 



One serious drawback Italian bees have 

 here is their persistency in crowding the 

 brood-nest so it must be removed with the 

 extractor. While Carniolans keep quiet on 

 combs as do Italians, tlwy are easily shaken off. 



Ceres. Cal., May 8. 



[I shall have to acknowledge that Mr. Gil- 

 strap's point is well taken to the effect that 

 it is very ditHcult to distinguish the identity 

 of races" of bees that look very much alike 

 in a small queen-cage, where there can be 

 only a dozen or so of bees; so that the 

 "scheme" of Mr. Davis, after all, does not 

 prove very much either way. 



Since liis article was published, I have 

 carefully inspected the bees at the Depart- 

 ment Apiary, Washington, D. C; and the 

 attendant in'charge, Mr. Leslie Martin, very 

 clearly showed that there was a difference. 

 One v/ho is an expert, 1 think, could i-eadily 

 tell one from the other, and yet it would be 

 hard to desci'ibe the difference on paper. 



I have since seen Carniolans antl Cauca- 

 sians side by side elsewhere, and have noted 

 the same difference in appearance in the 

 l)eerf. Mr. Martin, at the Department apia- 

 ry, showed the Bauets and the Caucasians. 

 'i''he,>e look more nearly alike than any two 

 of the other races; and" it is not to be won- 



dered at, because the native hal)itats of the 

 two strains are not far apart. 



With I'egard to Carniolans, at the present 

 time there is a tendency on the part of some 

 bee-keepers, especially those running for ex- 

 tracted honey, and who are al>le to control 

 swarming, to prefer Carniolans to Italians. 

 From some things I have seen of Cauca- 

 sians, I am inclined to think . they are going 

 to be a very desirable bee for comi) honey — 

 particularly so because the cappings are re- 

 ported to l)e white. — Ed.] 



' 



BEE-KEEPING IN CUBA. 



Viewed by One who does Not Believe in 

 Describing the Rosy .Side Only. 



BY FRANK REIMAN. 



[This article was received last February; but owing 

 to the great amount of copy on hand awaiting publi- 

 cation we have beon unable to use it. The reader 

 will do well to bear in mind that the lirst part of it 

 was written in March, 190,5, and the. remainder in 

 January, 1906, as explained.— Ed. J 



Very little is written or known about bee- 

 keeping in Cuba or of Cuba generally. I 

 had read various articles in bee-papers con- 

 cerning immense crops in C'uba, and was 

 much interested, and had a great desire to 

 go into the bee- business there. I kept bees in 

 Delaware for 2U years, from 100 to oOO hives, 

 raising annually 10,000 to 20,000 lbs.; but, 

 owing to great stornas, in the entire district 

 whei'e I raised honey the banks broke and I 

 was Hooded, besides drowning 450 hives of 

 bees. I sold and disposed of what I had left 

 at the best prices I could get, and embarked 

 for Cuba expecting to get bees on shares. I 

 succeeded in getting an apiary with 200 

 hives in dilapidated condition, but in a good 

 situation for honev, taking charge August 1, 

 1903. 



Not being able to talk with any one, as 

 only Spanish is spoken here, I took up my 

 residence in the bee-j^ard and lived there for 

 six months, learning little by little until 

 now, after two years, I am able to talk Span- 

 ish fairly well. The bees had very poor at- 

 tention before I got them, as there was not 

 a super on, and some hives had 30 lbs. of 

 honey below the hives. I worked about two 

 months to get the bees in shape, and in- 

 creased to 300 hives, and got 3 barrels of 

 honey up to Sept. 15. Then trouble began. 

 The dry season came on, and the ants started 

 to eat the bees. I tried every known plan, 

 but lost 50 colonies. About a million ants 

 would gather on the porch of the entrance, 

 and then also enter evei'y crack or opening 

 of the hives, get the bees by the wings or 

 legs until they would swarm out, leaving the 

 brood for the ants to eat, which they would 

 remove entirely in two days. 



In all ))ee-houses I make now I place the 

 bees on benches two feet from the ground, 

 with all the legs in water, to keep the ants 

 from crawling up. I lost 150 hives of l)ees 

 last year by ants. The honey season began 

 the hrst year here in December, ami lasted 

 till IMav iu. in which time i Look 3U,000 ll)s. 



