Nov. 



1899. 



americafn bee journal 



695 



but I do not think they do. The feeding- is done at a time 

 •when the bees do not fly very much, nor very far from 

 home. Besides, I find that my neighbor here is a pretty 

 g-ood sort of fellow, the same as he was in New York, and if 

 his bees should benefit slightly by my feed, it is not a 

 State's-prison ofi'ense. There seems to be a diiference in 

 locality, even in Cuba. 



My three apiaries are in a row along one of the main 

 government roads. One is three miles north of home, and 

 the other out-apiary eight miles south. At present the 

 north apiary — Lucado^is getting- no honey. The home- 

 apiary — Paula — some ; and the south apiary — Dique — is 

 storing some surplus. 



When I came here Senor Ranelo had not visited the 

 Dique apiary in three months. Upon my first visit I found 

 one colony which some one had evidently tried to extract, 

 and gave it up as a bad job. The cover was oflf, and the 

 top story set crosswise upon the bottom story. Yet there 

 was brood in both stories and plenty of honey. This 'dur- 

 ing the rainy season, and in a large apiary where robber- 

 bees are always looking for plunder, shows what bees will 

 sometimes stand. They were black bees, at that. 



There are almost no fences left here, and but a small 

 share of the houses left standing. Thousands of acres that 

 were farmed before the war are now used for cattle-ranges. 

 In many cases it is not even known who owns the land. 

 Often entire families perisht where they were driven from 

 the farms into the villages, while the Spaniards spent the 

 months they were given to get out of Cuba, in destroj'ing 

 the records of the land transfers. Even the stones used to 

 record the surveys at the corners of the sections have the in- 

 scriptions effaced in many cases. Everything of value 

 they could not take away with them seems to have been 

 wantonly destroyed. 



My employer here can read a little English by means of 

 a grammar and a dictionary. He is a warm personal friend 

 of Mr. Craycraf t, and when the copy of the American Bee 

 Journal containing Mr. Craycraft's article read at the Phil- 

 adelphia convention came to. hand, he wisht to read it. It 

 was his first attempt at the amended spelling. When I 

 came in he was tearing his hair and using all sorts of lan- 

 guage towards a dictionary which, he said, did not have all 

 the words in. My knowledge of Spanish was not equal to 

 the task of explaining how it was that there should be two 

 waj's of spelling one word. 



Senor Ranelo has a Spanish bee-paper which appears to 

 be pretty good. Provincia Habana, Cuba, Oct. 10. 



Planting" Trees for Honey — Some Sug'gestions. 



BY J. H. MARTIN. 



WHEN living at the old home in eastern New York I 

 was in daily contact with specimens of such noble 

 trees as the basswood, sugar-maple and elm ; and the 

 drooping-willow grew to perfection on the old homestead 

 farm. The public highway ran thru it for a distance of 

 about 80 rods, and it was once m)' desire to make that 80 

 rods a beautiful avenue ; and when opportunity offered I 

 planted trees, both basswood and maple. Those trees have 

 been growing for more than 20 years ; and I have assur- 

 ances from parties who live near them that there is now a 

 fine avenue, with but few bees near to gather the honey. 

 Certainly, a score or more of basswood trees along the road- 

 side would amount to but little for the operations of a large 

 apiary, but if farmers, could become interested in tree- 

 planting there would be a chance for more bee-keeping- 

 later on. 



My ideas in relation to tree-planting had been definitely 

 formulated and settled long before I left the East. Thei'e 

 is scarcely a farm in the hill country of eastern New York 

 and the New England States without more or less waste 

 land upon it. The steep and stony hillside has been denuded 

 of trere, what little fertility the land possest has been ex- 

 hausted from repeated croppings, and now it is turned over 

 to stones and weeds, and called the " back pasture." Upon 

 this same barren hillside the tree will grow, and in its 

 thrift will draw moisture to the surface, and perhaps the 

 long-forgotten spring will come to life again. 



I have seen many hillsides that were naturally moist, or 

 which had a fringe of springs upon their lower edges, made 

 as dry as a bone from the free use of the woodman's axe. 

 When the spring fails, the little stream diminishes, the 

 river a little farther down becomes sluggish, sandbars ap- 

 pear, and navigation ceases — all a result from the denuded 

 hillsides. 



It seems to me that the remedy for these evils is very 

 simple. Nature has been thrown out of balance, and we 

 must get her back. In order to get her back we must ask 

 Nature a few questions. Nature says that the shade of the 

 tree is necessary for the continuous flow of the spring ; and 

 how lovingly the willow performs her part ; and where the 

 trout-brook winds its way thru the meadow, the clover and 

 the grasses grow with such vigor, and intertwine from bank 

 to bank if possible, thus shielding the water from the rays 

 of the sun, and preventing evaporation. Wherever the land 

 is not too valuable, these springs and little streams can be 

 protected by the planting of trees. The willow, locust, 

 bassvfood and the maple would be agreeable to the bee- 

 keeper, and perform the work of making shade. The locust 

 tree alone would make a rapid growth, and in a few years 

 the grove could be trimmed out at a profit for wood or fence- 

 posts. The sugar-maple would make fair returns from its 

 honey and sugar, while the basswood would bear thinning 

 out within 20 years for its white lumber. Going a little 

 further, is there not a benefit in the judicious planting- of 

 trees even where the land is valuable ? 



The ten acres planted by Mr. Root was upon poor 

 ground, but, according to his confession, if he had been as 

 enthusiastic in forestry as he is in gardening, the result 

 would have been different in spite of the lack of drainage. 



The basswood and the locust will make a good growth 

 in ten years, and produce quite an amount of honey, and, as 

 the years pass, the tree-top acreage will increase. 



The planting of trees for the honej- they will secrete is 

 a matter of wide application ; and here in California some 

 of our bee-men are alive to its importance. 



Here, where so much depends upon the conservation of 

 the water supply, the government comes to our aid, and has 

 set off large tracts of our mountain lands into government 

 parks. Our large timber grows upon these mountains ; and 

 but for the timely interference of the government, the 

 woodman's axe would leave them as barren as a desert. 

 Associations, with men of wide experience in forestry, are 

 in active operation ; and when the planting of trees is in 

 progress the bee-man is remembered in the planting of the 

 eucalyptus. The basswood will grow in California, and a 

 judicious planting of it in favored locations on the moun- 

 tains would surely result in benefit. 



We hope the time will come when we shall learn to cul- 

 tivate Nature, as seen in the animal, the tree, the fountain, 

 the flower and the insect, and there will be harmony among 

 them all. We have much' to learn, and many questions to 

 ask of Dame Nature, but she will not fail us if we ask un- 

 selfish!}' and listen patiently. — Bee-Keepers' Review. 



Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



The New (1899) Edition of ABC of Bee=Culture, just 

 revised, is indeed a fine work, very interesting descriptions 

 of which have been given on pages 603, 619, and 635. It is a 

 book every bee-keeper should read thoroly. The regular post- 

 paid price is $1.20, but to all our subscribers who pay any 

 arrears that may be due, and also 31.00 for the Bee Journal 

 for 1900 (next year), we will mail a copy of A B C of Bee- 

 Culture for only 75 cents, provided the order is received 

 before January 1, next. We make this sameoft'er to all who 

 have paid their subscriptions to the end of 1899 — send us 

 $1.75 and we will mail you the book and credit your sub- 

 scription for 1900. We make the same offers on " Lang- 

 stroth on the Honey-Bee," revised by Dadant (1899 edition). 



Yorli's Honey Almanac is a neat little 32-page pamph- 

 let especially gotten up with a view to create a demand for 

 honey among should-be consumers. Aside from the Alma- 

 nac pages, the forepart of the pamphlet was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to general information concern- 

 ing honey. The latter part consists of recipes for use in 

 cooking and as a medicine. It will be found to be a very 

 effective helper in working up a home market for honey. 

 We furnish them, postpaid, at these prices : A sample for 

 a stamp ; 25 copies for 40 cents ; 50 for 70 cents ; 100 for 

 $1.00 ; 250 for $2.25 ; 500 for §4.00. For 25 cents extra we 

 will print your name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. 



Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as the)' last. Better order at once, if you want a copy 

 of this song. 



