1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



671 



Havana, and on a good road, all surround- 

 ing- countrj' being- untilled pasturag-e lands. 

 The start was made in the late fall of 1883, 

 and at once some native bees were pur- 

 chased. From a start of 43 native colonies, 

 we developed in three years the finest api- 

 ary in the world, so far as we were able to 

 ascertain. About 650 running- feet of tile 

 shed, 12 feet wide, was built to cover them, 

 besides an extractingf-house, 30X20 feet. 

 No expense was spared, and every time any 

 thing- was asked for, double the amount 

 was usuallj' sent, and S3U00, Spanish gold, 

 was spent before a pound of houe^' was 

 sold. The crops were considered big at that 

 time, running- from 45,000 lbs. to oO.uOO. 



The climax in the histor}' of this fine 

 ranch was not reached until the fall of 1894 

 and spring- of 1895, when it earned for itself 

 the name of being- the larg^est and finest 

 apiar_v in Cuba (on the modern scale). 

 This same season's crop broke all prevail- 

 ing^ records up to that time, when two men 

 and a boy took 73.000 lbs. from bOOO hives 

 in five months, with the assistance of the 

 steam-extractor. Our crop the previous 

 winter had been good; and Mr. Dussaq, 

 becoming tired of the business, offered it to 

 my father on very easj' terms, and he ac- 

 cepted the otter. 



We now arrive at the birth of the steam- 

 extractor. Having- become tired of the slow 

 process and hard work necessar}' to take 

 1000 lbs of honey a da}' by a hand ma- 

 chine, notwithstanding this was a Jumbo 

 six-frame non-reversible machine, built (if 

 I remember correctly) to order by A. I. 

 Root, and shown in Gleanings for 1893, he 

 began studj-ing on the problem of power 

 and larger machines, at the same time 

 looking up a man who could build it after 

 his ideas; and after a great deal of corres- 

 pondence the machine was finall}' shipped. 

 It cost about 5300, and the dimensions are 

 as follows: Circumference, 36 feet. ; depth, 

 4 ft.; revolutions per minute, 2-^0; comb ca- 

 pacity, 21. The reel is independent of the 

 can. There is no center in the bottom of 

 the can. The three-inch center-shaft stands 

 in a heav3' seat bolted fast to the floor, the 

 top also being secured by bolting the seat 

 to 6X6 pieces. There are 22 or 44 3-ft. 

 arms, one inch square, steel, secured b}' 

 heav}' clamps bolted together. This ma- 

 chine was driven at first b}- a three-horse- 

 power boiler; but as it took 100 lbs. of 

 steam to start it, after the first season's use 

 this boiler was sold, and another, an eight- 

 horse-power boiler and engine, installed in 

 its place. This extractor weighs 1300 lbs. 

 We could never get enough honey to test it 

 thoroughly; but sutlice it to say, the best 

 we ever did with it was 2500 lbs. in four 

 hours, one man to run the engine, one to 

 tend the machine, and a boy of 17 to uncap 

 the combs; but it will be some time before 

 even this record is broken. 



This acme of perfection and skill as a 

 whole is to-day an eye-sore to those of us 

 who remember it before the war. In the 

 summer of 1895 it was ag-ain sold back to 



the original owners, and this fact alone 

 shielded it from the Spanish torch, while 

 the insurgent torch gave it a free pass, as 

 the}' knew the owners to be American. A 

 notice, however, guarded the gate — "French 

 property! no trespassing, please." 



This apiary is the one Mr. A. I. Root has 

 reference to in his March 1st issue, this 

 year. Great as has been the growth of 

 bee-keeping in Cuba in the last 23 years, it 

 is as yet in its infancy; and vast trackless 

 wildernesses of vine and shrub lie to-day 

 beneath the shadow of stately mountains, 

 secluded valleys, and rippling streams, 

 each and every one of a thousand dift'erent 

 varieties, yielding its tons of nectar yearly, 

 only to be evaporated by the hot sun or fed 

 upon by myriads of butterflies and ants. 

 Thousands upon thousands of acres of 

 trackless mountain-sides, upon whose fer- 

 tile soil the sun has never shone, may be 

 found here; the depredation of man has 

 never marred nature's handiwork. It lies 

 to-day unclaimed. Tropical flora through 

 which the shy deer feeds unmolested, and 

 the shrill note of the quail echoes, and in- 

 numerable specimens of the feathery tribes 

 proclaim the extent of these wastes. The 

 hum of the bee is often heard, however, as 

 it gathers from each flower its load of 

 sweetness, and, hastening oft" to some far- 

 away cliff, it deposits it in some dark hole 

 in the rocks, secure from robbers of all 

 kinds. To the experienced eye this pano- 

 rama reveals the great possibilities of Cuba 

 as a bee-keeper's paradise; also the abun- 

 dent provisions of nature for the mainte- 

 nance of more if he be wise enough to reap 

 the harvest she has laid before him. 



Such is the histor}' of this industrj', and 

 the possibilities of this enterprise founded 

 on a modern scale 23 years ago b}' the 

 writer's father. 



[I remember well that big extractor, for 

 it was built in our own machine-shop. The 

 reel was a mammoth affair. But my own 

 impression is that, with a modern eight- 

 frame reversible extractor, driven by pow- 

 er, one could do as much work with less 

 power, or at least keep ahead of the un- 

 capper. With a hand machine (an eight- 

 frame reversible) I m3'self kept up with 

 one man uncapping, in California, for two 

 or three hours; and if power had been at- 

 tached I could have done the work much 

 easier. As it was, I worked like a horse. 

 —Ed.] 



SHALLOW HIVES. 



Their Advantages Compared with Deeper Ones ; an 

 Interesting Discussion of the Whole Matter. 



MORRISON. 



The lamented Rambler was a firm be- 

 liever in a shallow hive, somewhat after the 

 Heddon pattern ; and only a short while 

 ago he mentioned his preference for a brood- 

 chamber about 7 inches in depth. He was 

 not the only one who believed in shallow 



