1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



401 



in Medina, by a blunder, made a statement 

 on the cover of our bee keepers' catalog', to 

 the effect that he commenced with onlj' 50 

 nuclei. Mr. Boyden, who furnished this 

 item, says that, as nearly as he can remem- 

 ber, he understood Mr. Martin himself 

 (while he was in Cuba) to sa}' that he had 

 only 50 nuclei. It maj' be interesting- right 

 here to look ag-ain at that slate shown on 

 page 4b9, June 1st. 





U.^A .£<Jtrfc yxirtxfiAj . ^urayryyt Coruii 

 (n^ yxo-f- u/^ -to Ccd' ^^jJli^iX- 



RAMBLER'S SLATE OF ONE YEAR AGO. 



The above tells us that he started with 

 only 50 hives, but there were two nuclei in 

 each hive. It also reveals another interest- 

 ing fact: That notwithstanding this tre- 

 mendous feat in increase of honey, a good 

 many swarms went to the woods — he says 

 "hundreds;" but this was, of course, only 

 a sort of hyperbole or pleasantry. Is it 

 not possible that those same mosquitoes he 

 pictures (some of them puncturing his bicj^- 

 cle tire) were the ones that laid the founda- 

 tion of the fever from which he died? 



We must keep in mind that, in tropical 

 countries like Cuba, there is no winter to 

 hinder rapid work; in fact, there is scarce- 

 1}- a day in the whole year when one can 

 not go right along rearing queens and tak- 

 ing in the honey. I presume Rambler made 

 no effort to keep his colonies pure nor to 

 raise his queens from any special strain. 

 I know this — that his bees were rather cross 

 when I attempted to go around among the 

 hives, even though honey was coming in at 

 a pretty good rate. Mr. Gilson has tak- 

 en from the apiary a considerable amount 

 of both comb and extracted honey since Mr. 

 Martin's death; but I have not yet received 

 an account of how much. 



Now, friends, while we bend our energies 



toward securing great crops from any of 

 these wonderful gifts from the hand of the 

 loving Father, let us be careful about over- 

 taxing these bodies of ours by taking risks. 

 We read in holy writ, "What shall it profit 

 a man if he shall gain the whole world and 

 lose his own soul?" Of course, this text 

 does not apply to the case in question; but 

 we maj', perhaps, put it a little differently: 

 "What shall it profit a man if he shall 

 gain the whole world and lose his health or 

 possibly his lifeV 



A CORRECTION — "CARLOAD" FOR "CART- 

 LOAD;" ALSO SOMETHING ABOUT OVER- 

 STOCKING. 



On page 293, second column, the word 

 carload is used where it should have been 

 cartload. Instead of getting it " right to a 

 /, " as the old saying is, we got it " wrong 

 to a /. " Friend Hochstein objects to this, 

 as I felt sure he would as soon as I saw it. 

 I was away when it went to press. Here is 

 what he says about it: 



Mr Root: — If I do not want to be crowded off my 

 present location I shall have to take either A. I. Root 

 or his printer lo task, and call for a correction of that 

 article, p. 298, which says I take a "carload " of honey 

 in every time I go to the station. It should read a 

 cartload of two barrels. The reason I did not want to 

 tell you what my crop was is that it fell far below the 

 average I ha'^ set. I have already had two letters ask- 

 ing for locations here since your article appeared. I 

 inclose you a piece of one, which speaks tor itself. 

 Here it is : 



Please accept my congratulations for having won Mr. A. I. 

 Root's biggest and best praise ; and, by the way, as I am now 

 preparing to put in another apiary, it's no more than natural 

 that I should wish to secure a location where it is possible to 

 haul in a carload every time, and no other territory is repre- 

 sented to me to equal that of famous Punta Brava ; and I'd 

 like to strike the country before that storm of bee-keepers 

 arrives which Mr. Root has called forth. P. T. O. 



Those who write to me first, I am not afraid of. I 

 can discourage them; but such as come and rent land, 

 and put bees on it before one is aware of it these are 

 the ones I fear, and there are plenty of such in Cuba. 



Punta Brava, Cuba, Apr. 16. C. F. Hochstein. 



While we are on this subject, here is 

 another letter that came from Cuba in the 

 same mail: 



Mr. Root: — I have just finished extracting honey at 

 my home apiary at Guanabana, and have now taken 

 :34 tierces of honey from 200 hives, or 2.50 lbs. per colo- 

 ny. I am looking forward to the time when you and 

 I can have some good long talks together on produc- 

 ing large honey crops in Cuba This is probably the 

 largest honey-record made in Cuba this season. 



Haven't vou wished yourself back in Cuba? iVell, 

 Catara Real keeps on talking just the same, and I oft- 

 en think that she and Somerford should live together. 



Guanabana, Cuba, Apr. 16. C. E. Woodward. 



Perhaps I should explain that friend 

 Woodward is in company with a wealthy 

 man who is interested in sugar-cane, and 

 who has control of the territory for miles 

 around. No bee-keeper nor an3'body else 

 can plant an apiary within the range of his 

 bees' flight without the knowledge and per- 

 mission of his partner. And, by the way, 

 the Havana Post just informs us that our 

 good friend Moe has' made a purchase of 

 three thoiisatid acres of land. Of course, I 

 do not know; but the idea will keep suggest- 

 ing itself that Mr. Moe wants things in 

 such shape that his territorj^ can not be in- 

 vaded in the way friend Hochstein suggests, 

 without his knowledge and consent. 



