THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



Messrs. Osborn, Poppleton, King, Soni- 

 erford, Kenyon and myself have all 

 produced honey in Cuba, and all tell 

 ' about the same story in regard to the 

 quality of the honey, but differ some- 

 what in regard to the quantity secured 

 from certain plants. Poppleton says, 

 (see Gleanings for December 15, 1S98, 

 page 908) that two-thirds or more of the 

 -entire crop is from bellflower, which 

 blooms a little more than two months, 

 that the bellflower is followed by the 

 royal palm which yields no surplus, yet 

 it is the only thing that yields honey from 

 May to September, and that many bees 

 will starve if not fed. According to his 

 story it is a mystery to me where they 

 get any surplus except from bellflower. 

 Somerford says (see Gleanings for Feb. i, 

 page 82 ) that royal palm yields a steady 

 stream of honey the year around, but it 

 is the color of sorghum and has a twang 

 to it. ( Pretty broad, vSomerford. ) 



I was in charge of the Casanova apiary, 

 some twenty miles east of Havana, before 

 Mr. Somerford was there; but it is not 

 necessary for me to say much about the 

 honey, because it is a settled fact that 

 Cuba is a great honey producing country 

 — it's the other things there that I wish to 

 write about. 



Of all the American bee-keepers who 

 have tried their luck in Cuba, only one, 

 and that is Osborn, has remained in Cuba; 

 and Kenyon told me that Osborn could 

 not get back. Kenyon ought to know, 

 as he helped Osborn a long time. We 

 came back home because we found 

 things so different from what we had ex- 

 pected to find them. In the first place, 

 all of the people there speak the Spanish 

 language. Just consider how miserable 

 one would feel in such a place. Then 

 there is no end to the insects, such as 

 fleas and jiggers, etc. 



Scorpions are often fovnid under an}' 

 old piece of board, or cloth, among 

 fruit, or even in your shoes. Tarantulas 

 are also too plentiful for comfort. Snakes 

 are not so very plentiful, but there are 

 some good sized ones. I saw one over 



twelve feet long. Oxen are used instead 

 of horses; and, instead of the yoke lying 

 across the necks of the oxen, it is tied to 

 their horns right on top of their heads. 

 All the team that we had was a one-eared 

 jack. I wonder if Somerford remembers 

 seeing him. He was a dandy. In dry 

 weather tiie roads are very bad on account 

 of the dust which is very loose and deep. 

 Then wlien it rains the mud is also "loose 

 and deep." When I was there the 

 weather was splendid. It rained just 

 enough to make vegetation boom; and 

 when that booms the bees boom. The 

 bellflower was in its glory, and it seemed 

 as though there was actually no end to 

 the honey. The weather was pretty hot, 

 but the hives (500 of them) were under 

 great long sheds where the sun never 

 struck them, and we worked between the 

 two rows which faced out from in under 

 the sheds In the afternoon there was a 

 nice sea breeze which made it cool. 

 There was plenty of fruit, such as banan- 

 as, oranges, pineapples, lemons, yams, 

 etc., and we had good water by going 

 after it about a mile and a half to a spring 

 away up in the woods. 



I do not notice as Mr. Poppleton men- 

 tions foul brood, but King told me all 

 about it before I went. Somerford speaks 

 about it as being very bad, and lots of it; 

 and that is correct. I did not battle 

 with it very much, as I was not there long 

 enough. 



If there is any man who is thinking 

 of throwing up his business in the 

 United States, and going to Cuba to pro- 

 duce honey, I would advise him to leave 

 his family at home under the protection 

 of Uncle Sanmel. Let him stay in Cuba 

 at least six months. A year would be 

 better. Then if he thinks it wise to 

 bring the good wife and children down 

 there, where it is hot, hot, hot, every 

 day in the year, with no let-up, all right. 

 It is my opinion, however, that there 

 will not be one man in ten who will not 

 wish, at the end of six months, that he 

 had left hiinself at home. During my 

 bee-keeping life I have been hunting 



