1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURR 



799 



VENEZUELA AS A BEE COUNTRY. 



The Bees and the Flora ; some Interesting Facts 

 Regarding the Industry. 



BY W. K. MORRISON. 



Venezuela has of late j'ears taken a very 

 prominent place in international affairs, 

 yet I have never seen any thing- in print 

 relative to its bee-keeping- possibilities, prob- 

 ably because most people look toward it 

 as a source likelj' to create a fight, and a 

 fig-ht or diplomatic duel is of far more in- 

 terest to the general public than any thing 

 that can be written regarding the peace- 

 able exploitation of Venezuelan resources. 



That Venezuela has a bee-keeping indus- 

 try may be news to some; but it has one in 

 embryo, with plenty of room for "expan- 

 sion" without resorting to "jingo" meth- 

 ods 



Probably it would be quite useless for me 

 to say any thing about the chances for a 

 modern bee-keeper without saying a word 

 about the government and the people. 

 Strictly speaking, Venezuela is governed on 

 anarchial principles, hence every man 

 practically defends his own life and prop- 

 erty, and the same is true of Colombia, 

 Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. If the reader 

 grasps this fact it may aid him to under- 

 stand clearlj' many things that appear in 

 the public press about these countries. 

 Rightly speaking, there is no government 

 in Venezuela. The people are much like 

 the Mexicans — a short, squat, copper-color- 

 ed race, with about 3 per cent whites and 

 perhaps 10 per cent Africans, who chiefly 

 frequent the coast cities, and who are, as 

 usual, hewers of wood and drawers of wa- 

 ter. 



Only one word suits Venezuela — " mag- 

 nificent." I never saw any thing so awe- 

 inspiring as the mountains that form its 

 coast-line. Approaching in the early morn- 

 ing in a steamer, I saw a great black wall 

 that reached from the clouds to the sea. It 

 seemed as if day and the blackest night 

 had met. About three hours later the sun 

 got around the wall, and we began to see 

 the wall was not quite perpendicular, and 

 there were houses at the foot of it along the 

 beach. Later we could see the whole moun- 

 tain was clothed in verdure to its summit, 

 8000 feet above our heads. But 8000 feet 

 makes a rather high wall, and it is this 

 high wall which makes Venezuelans think 

 their country' free from invasion. 



It is in the interior valleys, behind this 

 wall, where bee-keeping will probably pay 



best. It is there also where Apis mellifica 

 can be found in a wild state, and nowhere 

 else so far as I could discover. It is there, 

 too, where the bulk of the Venezuelan pop- 

 ulation is to be found, simply because it is 

 the healthiest section of the country. Fur- 

 ther south I do not think Apis mellifica can 

 exist unprotected by man. Its enemies are 

 too strong for it; but it is just there where 

 the stingless bees do best, and where there 

 are the greater numbers of species. If the 

 inquirer Were ignorant of this matter he 

 would be led to believe by what the natives 

 say, that stinging bees exist all over the 

 country. There is a species common on the 

 low country', which bites with relentless 

 fury; and hearing what the natives have to 

 say, the stranger would naturally under- 

 stand that the ordinary honey-bee was 

 meant. It is a very different insect, how- 

 ever. It builds its cone-shaped nest over 

 or in a hole in the prairie, and at the dis- 

 tance of a few feet looks to be identical with 

 Apis mellifica. It carries pollen in the 

 same manner as its relative, but is a little 

 shorter, and its wings are longer. The 

 number of bees flying out and in a nest is 

 about the same as of the hive-bee. All to- 

 gether it is a very interesting bee to a bee- 

 keeper. 



Around Caracas there are now a few bee- 

 keepers using modern implements, though 

 when I first visited the locality there were 

 none; in fact, I constructed the first few 

 hives with my own hands, having very few 

 tools to work with. There are bee-hunters 

 all about the country who peddle in a small 

 way the native bee-nectar of the country. 



Caracas is a mighty interesting place; at 

 least it was so to me. The civilization is 

 very peculiar, so are the houses and all else 

 that go to make up a large city. The sit- 

 uation is grand and unique, at the head of 

 a fine valley which slopes away toward 

 the Orinoco. The sea is actually only 3''2 

 miles away through the mountain wall, yet 

 the sewerage of the city is carried hundreds 

 of miles before it reaches the ocean. The 

 climate is fine, and somewhat like that of 

 Bermuda. It is even chilly in the evenings, 

 being 3000 feet above sea-level. 



There are plenty of honey plants about. 

 Around the mountains may be seen lots of 

 the Iponiea family, including the aguinaldo. 

 Mahogany, a kind of rosewood, and coffee 

 produce large quantities of honey. Coffee 

 would be a grand honey-plant if it were 

 not for its short season, only 48 hours; but 

 around Caracas it is grown at all elevations, 

 so that its period is lengthened out. The 

 coffee of Caracas is world-famous for its 

 quality. It is known in the United States 

 as Mocha coffee. The cacao, or chocolate, 

 of Caracas, is equally good, in my opinion 

 unrivaled. There are three places where 

 one can get a good cup of coffee — Caracas, 

 New York, and New Orleans; but only one 

 for chocolate. Real vanila is used for fla- 

 voring it. 



Venezuela is not a place for fruit. In- 

 deed, very few of the South American coun- 



