294 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



T think the finest g-uavas I ever ate (and 

 I think I ate pretty nearly a plateful) 

 were at friend Hochstein's. They grow 

 wild all over his ranch. In fact, some of 

 the finest tropical fruits g-row out in the 

 fields or woods, ofttimes wasting their 

 sweetness on the desert air. Guavas are 

 so plentiful and cheap that you can buy a 

 good-sized brick of guava jelly for only a 

 dime. 



I know friend H. carries out his threat — 

 at least to some extent — of hauling away, 

 his honey by night, for I rode over to the 

 station between three o'clock in the morn- 

 ing and daylight, on his ox-cart containing 

 a load of honey.* 



MR. woodward's apiary nkar matanzas. 



Mr. de Beche told me I must certainly 

 visit Matanzas and Cardenas. He said, 

 after I got hold of Mr. Woodward I would 

 get along all right; but he added that I 

 would not be likely to find anybody who 

 could speak English, on the way to Ma- 

 tanzas. After worrying people along the 

 way about as usual, because I could not 

 speak their language, I finally got hold of 

 Mr. C. E. Woodward in the great store and 

 warehouse of J. Landetta. Mr. W. was 

 just getting into a saddle to visit some one 

 of the seven apiaries; but he put his horse 

 uD and went with me over to his home in 

 Guanabana. On the way over, he told me 

 something of his history as follows: 



Three years ago he became discouraged 

 about bee-keeping in Florida, and put all 

 of his worldly goods, bees included, on to a 

 schooner, and set sail for Cuba; but when 

 he undertook to land his bees the Cuban 

 officials interfered and said he was trans- 

 gressing some of their laws, and proceeded 

 to confiscate the whole outfit. He remon- 

 strated, and tried in vain to explain to 

 them that it would be his financial ruin ; 

 th'Ht the bees would have to be set out on 

 the ground and have a fly or they would all 

 die. Either the Spanish olficial did not 

 understand or did not care. In despera- 

 tii.m he went to Mr. Landetta, a wealthy 

 business man of Matanzas. By the aid of 

 an interpreter he manasred to tell his story. 

 Mr. Landetta was touched by the storj' of 

 the poor man's distress, and proposed to 

 Mr. Woodward to go in company with him 

 in the bee business. Of course, our good 

 friend Mr. Woodward accepted the proposi- 

 tion, for he was like a drowning man catch- 

 ing at straws. Mr. Landetta went to the 

 Spanish officers, and said, "Those bees 



♦While I write, the following letter is put in my 

 hand: 



Mr. Root:~I hope you flid not suffer any ill effects from 

 your buBpy-ride in an ox-cart through the rain. Next time 

 we will take a canvas cover along. 



Punta Brava, Cuba. O. F. Hochstein. 



The above brings vividly to mind the experiences 

 of that night in the ox-cart. When we started out. 

 the moon and stars were shining onlvas they do .shine 

 aw^v down in that tropical land, and every thing was 

 lovely. But an hour later the clouds came up. and the 

 rain began to f.ill: and as 1 hid n i clothing but a new 

 Cuban suit of thin linen I was in somewhat of a pre- 

 dicament. But it did not hurt tne any. for the sun 

 shone out bright soon after rising. 



belong to me, and this man is in my em- 

 ploy. You let him take the bees and other 

 stuff off" from that boat." 



The Spanish officials grumbled some 

 what, but Mr. Landetta had wealth and 

 influence at his command, and they were 

 obliged to submit. We bee-keepers can 

 imagine with what a feeling of relief Mr. 

 Woodward straightened himself up, took a 

 big breath of fresh air (this was Cuban 

 air) as he rolled up his sleeves and went 

 to work. Well, he is at work yet — at least 

 I suppose he is. He had SO colonies of bees 

 to start with. In three years these 60 col- 

 onies with the assistance of 600 three-frame 

 nuclei which he purchased of Fred Cray- 

 craft,* have been increased to 2000 colonies 

 located in seven apiaries. Friend Wood- 

 ward now takes care of one of the seven 

 apiaries at his home, and superintends the 

 management of the other six. He told me 

 the greatest part of his time was spent in 

 the saddle, riding from one apiar}' to the 

 other. His partner, Mr. Landetta, fur- 

 nishes the capital and he furnishes the 

 brains to manage, or at least they have 

 some sort of partnership that seems to be 

 satisfactory. When I was there they were 

 filling one order that amounted to about 

 $16,000. I believe this was extracted honey 

 to go to Germany. 



I now wish to tell 3'ou a little about Mr. 

 Woodward's home. His house and apiary 

 are located in an old fruit-orchard or gar- 

 den. Unlike the rest of the Cuban apia- 

 rists, he insists on having every hive locat- 

 ed at least seven or eight feet from every 

 other one. In fact, the plan is very much 

 like the hexagonal apiary described in the 

 ABC book. The ground is kept clear uf 

 weeds and rubbish by hoeing; and to avoid 

 disturbance from the bees I think most of 

 the hoeing is done by moonlight. They 

 have plenty of moonlight nights in Cuba, 

 and it is a cooler time to work than when 

 the sun shines. I told him I was afraid our 

 American men would make a kick about 

 working nights as well as days — want dou- 

 ble pay, or something of that sort. He said 

 he did not find any trouble about getting 

 his helpers to clean up around the hives by 

 moonlight. Several times, you may remem- 

 ber, I have said, "This apiary is the 

 handsomest one I ever saw in all my life." 

 Well, when I was at friend Woodward's I 

 told hitn his was the pleasantest-looking 

 apiary I ever saw in my life anywhere. 

 Our apiary at Paso Real looks very hand- 

 some with its mathematical accuracy, but 

 it is right out in the sun. Friend W's is 



* VIr. Fred Craycraft, whom many of our older read- 

 ers will recognize, is now a cu.stom-house officer iu 

 Havana He has been a bee-keeper all his life, and 

 wrote articles ^or Juvenile Gleanings more than twen- 

 ty years ago. Well, now I am going to tell a story of 

 what can be done in Cuba. Tf I do not get it straight, 

 friend Cravcraft will have to correct me. A year ago 

 last January he took 10) nuclei, to see what he cnuUl 

 do \viih them. Before July, from these 100 he sold to 

 Mr Woodward the fiOO three-frame nuclei, and had 150 

 left He rea'-ed all the queens himself, with the ex- 

 cption of 100 wtioh he purchased of J. B. Case, of 

 Port Orange Fla. Mr. Woodward paid him $1-500 for 

 the 600 nuclei, or $2 .")0 each. 



