1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



487 



BEC-XEEPING IN JAMAICA. 



The Home of Logwood. 



HV I.KSI.IK ALKXANDKR. 



]\Ir. Root: — As 3011 have recently been 

 turning' your attentiontothings West Indian, 

 u Jtabl3' Cuban bee keeping^, I have no doubt 

 that a few notes on bee keeping" in Jamaica, 

 with a few tyjiical illustrations, may iuter- 

 rst the vast armv of brother bee- keepers in 

 the States. I am bj' no means a profession- 

 al—only a humble amateur running- an api- 

 arj' of 120 colonies. M\' apiary is situated 

 at Malvern, a verj' large pimento property, 

 iu the wonderful health-giving Santa Cruz 



temperature is 78°, and our average mini- 

 mum 73. 



A little over two years ago I started bee- 

 keeping as an experiment with six colonies 

 of Italian bees. In a short time I g-rew to 

 love the work; and when, at the end of the 

 first twelve months, I found I had extracted 

 1680 lbs. from barely 15 strong colonies, I 

 was not only proud, but I resolved to stick 

 to the business. From 45 strong- colonies 

 this year (by strong I mean the full force of 

 70,000 bees and upward, according to Doo- 

 little's average) I have taken oft" 4900 lbs. 

 I run the apiary unassisted, save temporary 

 aid at extracting-time; and what with the 

 outdoor work, and the bracing climate, I 





>r^4>'-"<r''^^ 





r.OGWOOD-TKKK IN FULL BLOOM. 



Mountains, at an elevation of 2300 feet. It 

 is only a small nook in the logwood region, 

 the honey-plant par excellence of the trop- 

 ics. 



Having been stricken down several years 

 ago with pulmonary complaint I had to 

 abandon work on the plains, and, upon the 

 advice of my physicians, I came here — the 

 climate being considered one of the best in 

 the world for all pulmonary troubles, owing 

 to the total absence of humidity, due to the 

 fact that the entire mountain-range runs 

 parallel to the sea. < )ur average maximum 



have hardly- known an ache these three 

 years past. This i;peaks volumes for the 

 climate and the occupation. 



September brings with it a brief logwood 

 bloom, which is the forerunner of the main 

 honey-flow, never later than the middle of 

 November in this locality-. The September 

 flow, following so closely upon the perish- 

 ing or dwindling season, July and August, 

 gives the bees a wonderful stimulus — not 

 enoug-h to put on supers, yet sufficient to 

 crowd the brood -chambers when the colo- 

 nies cast fine swarms — I should say an 



