Feb. 23, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



115 



moves into a southern country, should know beforehand 

 something about the annoyances he is sure to meet, and 

 how best to lessen them as much as possible. 



There are mosquitoes in Cuba, plenty of them, but they 

 are neither so many nor of so mean a disposition as those 

 we have here on the East Coast of Florida. There are said 

 to be a dozen different species of them in Cuba, but those I 

 g-ot acquainted with were the shyest and most cowardly 

 fellows of their kind I know anything of. They never 

 bothered at all in the daytime, not even in the thickest of 

 brush or in creek bottoms. Always in the evening, when 

 sitting on the piazza, there would be a swarm of them back 

 of us, but rarely indeed would one of them venture to alight 

 on us long enough to bite. The least motion of any part 

 of our person would cause them to dart away to a safe dis- 

 tance. The time when they trouble is after we get to bed, 

 and they can trouble little or none then if one has a good, 

 tight house, or uses mosquito nets over beds. Doors and 

 windows of the houses must be kept screened, or nets used 

 over beds the year round, and care must be taken that no 

 mosquito is inside of the net, after one gets into bed. All 

 such must be killed before trying to sleep. 



I was told that the ordinary kind of mosquitoes was 

 very bad at times, close to the ocean, say within half a mile 

 or so of the shore, but, taken all in all, mosquitoes were 

 less of a pest in Cuba than in any other part of the South I 

 have ever lived. 



By far the worst pest we found was fleas — the common, 

 old-fashioned, high-jumping fellows. We found it impossi- 

 ble to prevent serious annoyance from these, that is, in the 

 daytime ; but we could keep quite free from them at night 

 by not allowing our night-clothing to come into any con- 

 tact with clothing worn in the daytime ; and the more we 

 kept away from any place where any kind of animals was 

 kept, the less we were troubled with them. lam told they 

 can be kept away by the free use of insect powder. If I were 

 going to Cuba I should take a supply along- with me. 



A pest not found so far as I know in the States, is the 

 Chigoe — the iXixiia of the Cubans. This is a flea, a jumper. 

 black, and so small as to be almost invisible with the naked 

 eye. These fellows burrow just under the skin, usually at 

 the side of one of the toe-nails (big toe preferred), and then 

 proceed to grow into a bag full of eggs. I think that the 

 abdomen of the insect itself distends as the eggs grow in 

 .size. I have seen them the size of a kernel of wheat. The 

 first one knows of their presence is a peculiar itching, and 

 an examination will show what looks like a white fester 

 under the skin. A novice will open the supposed fester, 

 squeeze out the eggs, and if wise drop in some kerosene to 

 kill the insect and such eggs as will still remain. 



But that is not the thing to do. The egg-sac remaining 

 ill the flesh will act like any other foreign body, causing in- 

 flammation and suppuration, and a good deal of pain and 

 soreness for a few days. The right thing to do is to take a 

 pin, and by being verj' careful, separate the entire egg-sac. 

 ivitJiout brcakiiii^ it. from the flesh. This is not a sore or 

 painful operation to do, but requires slow, careful work, 

 and, if rightly done, leaves no bad eft'ects except a bother- 

 some itching for a day or two. I had only four of these fel- 

 lows to wrestle with during the two years I was in Cuba, 

 and mv wife had two ; but the natives, who went nearly or 

 quite barefoot, were troubled very much, especially those 

 who had much to do around where stock was kept. 



There are a great many scorpions there — more and very 

 much larger than we have here in Florida. Empty hives 

 are favorite places for them. It was of daily occurrence to 

 kill one or more, but it is rare to be stung by them. I have 

 been stung only once while in Cuba, and once here in Flor- 

 ida. The .sting is a little more severe than is a bee-sting, 

 but not much. I think the scorpions found in America are 

 much less venomous than are the Asiatic and African 

 species. 



There are said to be no venomous snakes in Cuba, and 

 not many of any kind. Guess St. Patrick must have made 

 a brief visit to the island some time or other, as almost all 

 other tropica.1 countries are infested with poisonous ser- 

 pents. 



I neither saw nor heard anything of either sandflies or 

 bedbugs while in Cuba. These last are found in several of 

 our own Southern States, and are a genuine nuisance, in- 

 deed, altho they use few persons as badlj- as they seem to 

 have done Mr. Danzenbaker. The remedy he gives for 

 them is probably good, but not so readily applied as one we 

 use. It is simply to anoint the lumps caused by them as 

 soon as one feels them, with a preparation called " The 

 Magic Mosquito Bite Cureand Insect Exterminator." This 

 preparation has no oft'ensive odor, and seems to both kill 



the insects and allay the itching and discomfort caused by 

 their bite ; and is much the best remedy I have ever found 

 for any kind of insect bites. It is quite cheap, costing 20 

 cents per pint, or $1.00 per gallon. It is claimed to be a 

 perfect destroyer of certain insects that sometimes infest 

 houses, but I cannot say as to that from actual use. 



Mr. D. misunderstood what I said about foul brood in 

 Cuba. I said, " There was none while I was there ;" but I 

 learn through the papers there has been some there since 

 then. I try, as a rule, to write only what has come under 

 my own observation, leaving others to tell what they have 

 seen. Dade Co., Fla. 



COMB HONEY VS. EXTRACTED. 



Those Proposed Experiments for Comparative 

 Yields. 



BY K. C. .\IKIN. 



IN the preceding article (see page 67) I treated of a plan 

 to secure a comparative test to find the difi^erenCe in 

 yield between comb and extracted honey, conditions 

 equal save that the comb-honey colony builds its comb 

 while that for extracted to have combs ready-made. I now 

 continue the discussion. 



The experimenter having followed my plan of manage- 

 ment up to the harvest, should have every colony very 

 nearly equal in bees, age of bees, and amount of brood in 

 all stages. Having attained this, and the honey-flow on, I 

 recommend to unqueen where the flow is confined to one 

 short season, and so control all swarming (for unqueening 

 method see a later article), and if two flows, or a very long 

 one. to cause all to swarm at same time. 



As to management when they do swarm, if all swarm it 

 matters but little what method is pursued so long as all are 

 treated alike. I think, however, that more accurate results 

 will be obtained if the working force be kept together, say 

 by hiving on the old stand and setting the old colony some- 

 where near to be later removed to a new location, thus add- 

 ing to the swarm all bees that can possibly be spared from 

 the old one, expecting nothing more of the old one but to 

 fill the brood-chamber and be ready for winter. 



As to whether they be hived on starters, full sheets of 

 foundation, or fully built combs in the brood-chamber, I 

 should prefer first full siieets, and, second, starters. It will 

 be necessary to use queen-excluding honey-boards, espe- 

 cially on the extracted-honey colony when full combs are 

 above and starters of foundation below, else the brood-nest 

 would be establisht in the extracting-combs. It would be 

 unwise to put ready-made estracting-combs on at the same 

 time a swarm is hived on starters or foundation, because the 

 bees would so largely take to the extracting-combs as pos- 

 sibly to refuse to build in the brood-chamber. First let the 

 swarm get started in the brood-chamber, and, started there, 

 put on the extracting-combs. The extra may be put on at 

 once if zinc is used and combs below. 



Let no colony suffer for room. Weigh off the surplus 

 from each hive, and keep the amount in the colony record. 

 When the flow is over, and all surplus off, weigh each hive 

 to determine the amount of honey in the brood-chambers. 

 Do not forget to find out the amount of honey in the brood- 

 combs. It is almost an invariable rule, that more honey is 

 stored in brood-combs of section-honey colonies than in 

 those run for extracted. The rapidity (freeness) of the flow 

 and strength of the colony have to do with this, and it is no 

 uncommon thing for a section-honey colony to have its 

 brood-combs packt almost full of honey, and very little 

 brood, and along side of it an extracted-honey colony hav- 

 ing vcrv much brood, and what honey-combs are in the 

 brood-chamber not well filled. Brethren, thereby hangs a 

 tale — so be sure to find out how much honey is in the brood- 

 chambers. 



OTHER EXPERIMENTS. 



There is another way to accomplish something definite, 

 and by a method that requires few bees and less time, but 

 requires bees from one location to another. Here is how I 

 expect to to work it : 



I shall make a box largely of wire-cloth, say with ends 

 and two sides wood, the other two sides to be of wire-cloth. 

 One end of this will have a hole into which I can insert a 

 large funnel, one large enough that I can shake brood- 

 frames over it and thus box the bees shaken oft', by having 

 them slide down through it into the cage. In this way I will 

 draw bees from strong colonies at an out-yard, bring these 

 bees home, thoroughly mix them and weigh out equal 



