194 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



June 



Another time I located a yard at 

 the end of a settlement road, a mile 

 and a half from a good public road. 

 The settlement road was never kept 

 up, and it was almost impassable at 

 times. This meant a loss of time, and 

 we moved this apiary where it is 

 more easily reached. 



Another yard, which was our first 

 outyard established, was placed in an 

 ideal location, and we always ob- 

 tained a good crop, but there was no 

 available territory beyond, where 

 other yards could be established, and 

 to reach it we had to make a special 

 trip. In consequence it was some- 

 times badly neglected. 



For success we must have yards 

 conveniently located, so we may 

 reach them with the least possible 

 delay. We must centralize as much 

 as possible in order to cut down 

 mileage and allow more time for 

 general apiary work. Of course, good 

 roads have much to do with this sub- 

 ject, whether the distance be cov- 

 ered with teams or with trucks. 



It is best to have for the central 

 point of your apiaries, your home 

 yard, or a specially good location for 

 bees. Here you should have a large 

 honey-house and workshop. The 

 bees, at this center point, will be 

 needed to take care of extra combs 

 from outyards, clean up all freshly 

 extracted combs, finish unfinished 

 combs, use up any small amount of 

 honey broken up or rendered unfit 

 for packing, clean out cappings and 

 do many other things that are a 

 great help to the business. 



The best stock can be kept here 

 and the yard run as a queen-rearing 

 yard, or much of the increase can be 

 made here, because it is the most 

 convenient yard and can receive 

 daily attention. In consequence, this 

 is a very important yard. 



For other locations two and one- 

 half or three miles should be your 

 standard distance between yards. 



In the southland we are blessed 

 with abundant water courses. Large 

 branches, creeks and rivers are al- 

 most our only salvation in beekeep- 

 ing. Along these arc swamps or 

 low lands which bring about a cotn- 

 plete change in the sources of honey, 

 and as a rule bees will not do half so 

 well out of reach "i them. So we 

 follow these as closely as the good 

 roads will permit. 



The first yard should be located 



not less than a half mile from a 



and more than 300 feet from 



a road, so you ran drive into the 



apiary with a wagon or truck. 



1 "iir other yards, 

 watch your nearby streams closely, 

 at tlic satin- time keeping in mind the 

 good roads. Perhaps it will be best 

 to establish all your yards in a direct 

 In., or it will suit better to have 

 them placed in a large circle. All 

 this ib '. tin- st reams and 



the roads. If in a direct line 25 or 

 M\ miles is as far as your last yard 

 should be from your center point. 

 Other Central Apiaries 



Rather than extend too far from 

 ■ ti 1 1 point, 

 tablish ..tin! ..in. i placing the 

 groups at least 100 miles away in an 



entirely different section, if possible, 

 where the climate lias changed some- 

 what and the honey plants will be of 

 different variety. 



The advantage of this is that, 

 should you have a failure or a par- 

 tial one in one section, such would 

 n. 't be likely to occur in the other 

 apiaries. The main honey flow may 

 come in the spring at one branch and 

 in the summer at another. Then, 

 too, you can shift your packers from 

 one branch to the other, as well as 

 your apiarist, for, as a general rule, 

 the work slacks up in one place 

 when it is just coming on at another. 

 You also have a variety of honeys to 

 offer for sale. 



Numerous branches can be estab- 

 lished in this manner, always leaving 

 a distance of 100 miles from other 

 branches. These can be established 

 at the same time providing that labor 

 and capital is at hand. It also is 

 very important to have the center 

 point as near as possible to some 

 good shipping point. 



The question has been asked, 

 would it be advisable to erect a 

 honey-house and install a packing 

 plant for one yard, which is at con- 

 siderable distance from the central 

 apiary? We have tried this and 

 found it a failure, for the pasture or 

 range is never strong enough to sup- 

 port a large apiary and it would be 

 too expensive to have a complete 

 outfit for 75 or 100 colonies. The av- 

 erage production of honey in the 

 Southern States is less than 50 

 pounds surplus per colony and this 

 small amount can easily be carried to 

 a central point for extracting. The 

 supers can be returned as trips are 

 made to and from the yards for gen- 

 eral apiary work. 



Establishing apiaries and central- 

 izing them as outlined will make 

 work easier, lessen expense and 

 bring success. 



Rradentown, Fla. 



Santo Domingo Conditions 



By II. Brenner 



THE pioneer beekeeper in the Re- 

 public and old reader of the 

 American Bee Journal is Dr. 

 Maldonado, whose natural leaning is 

 i. .wanls entomology. The doctor, a 

 Spanish gentleman, is about 4_' years 

 old ami a physician of unusual abil- 

 ity. He graduated at the University 

 of Spain and speaks perfectly Eng- 

 lish, French, Spanish and Esperanto. 

 In my researches about the flora and 

 fauna of the island and in apiculture 

 In is of great help to me through the 

 encyclopedical condition of his 

 knowledge. When I am back from 

 my trips t res ( ,,, Sanchez, the eve- 

 nings, on bis verandah, sometimes till 

 1 and - o'clock in the morning, I 

 con ider as my best spent time. All 



ii. . . pi in \i .'i ." . on 



bis own land, and he has picked out 

 over a dozen iin. re sites which will be 

 ' in fall and next year. I ferds 

 . if M. ii in cattle fri .in mi 



ported bulls are grazing in his 



(barbed vire) pastures. He 

 also is a merchant of great ability, 



and a graduated pharmacist, own- 

 ing a drug store in Sanchez, another 

 in Matanzas, and interest in others 

 in different towns. His agents are 

 all over the Republic. I am glad to 

 say that he will free himself gradu- 

 ally from some of his present enter- 

 prises to spend more of his time in 

 apiculture. Another gentleman for 

 whom I predict a future in beekeep- 

 ing is Captain Dr. Dreyfus, our im- 

 migration officer and military physi- 

 cian. The doctor has in his resi- 

 dence an observation hive with a 

 double colony, and intends to buy 

 land on the north coast and go in ex- 

 tensively for beekeeping. The real 

 beekeepers in the Republic are most- 

 ly wealthy land owners wdio are able 

 to buy the materials. The poorer 

 classes and very large majority, have 

 colonies in logs, from which they get 

 honey in place of sugar, and wax to 

 make candles for light. I would like 

 to send some pictures, but I lost my 

 camera in crossing a flooded river in 

 a log canoe; it fell through the neg- 

 ligence of a native boatman, and of 

 course disappeared. I have not yet 

 been able to get another. 



A lovi i of bees in Santo Domingo, Dr 

 Maldonado, Sanchez, R. I). 



About a month ago Dr. Maldonado 



bought a run-down apiary 5 miles 

 From San Francisco de Maoris. We 

 concluded to move the bees and ma- 

 terial in the night to i in- station, load 

 a car and use both in our apiary in 

 Arenoso. The doctor made all the 

 arrangements, etc. We had about 18 

 mules and horses and only four men. 

 The first trip before midnight went 

 off all right and we reached the sta- 

 tion, bees and all, in good condition. 

 After midnight il turned cold and the 

 hands lighted a lire and refused to 

 work, and we had to wait with the 

 remaining colonies till Ihe sun came 

 out, as the doctor and myself could 

 not load the mules ourselves. We 

 tried it. but had to give it Up. We 

 had a time when we started, as the 

 mules objected to the bee stings, 

 jumped, kicked, ran against trees and 

 against each other with the col. .m. 

 tied with ropes on their backs. I 



