26 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



Unique Apiaries 



A really original bcc-garik'n has Ixcii 

 laid out by a sclioolmastor in Clcniumy, 

 nanu-d Kdiiard Ziclkc, well known far and 

 wide as a hcc-keepcr. 



It is a well-known fact that l)ees, when 

 living hack to the hive, direct themselves 

 by particular features of the apiary, and 

 .Vlr. Zielke has certainly built hives for his 

 bees that are very different from the usual 

 variety. In one corner of his garden the 

 visitor will lind a monster bear standing 

 upright, the nostrils of the animal serving 

 as openings through which the bees go in 

 and out. A few steps further there is a 

 gigantic lion whose interior is full of 

 honeycombs. Then there are elephants, 

 wind'niills, little castles and diminutive 

 dwelling houses, all intended for l)ee hab 

 itations. The figures are all built of pojilar 

 wood. 



Wax Pi-oduction Not rrofitablc 



The editor of "Gleanings" in Bee Cul- 

 ture says: "Wax production cannot be 

 made prolitable in any except tropical 

 countries. Certainly it could not be made 

 to pay in Indiana or any of our northern 

 states. Even in Cuba, with its long honey- 

 flows, Mr. F. C. Hochstein, a resident of 

 the island, and one who has tested the 

 proposition, says that honey at even one 

 cent a nound is more profitable than wax 

 at 30 cents." 



l'ni(|iie woodtii beeliive in ("iiiniany. It is made 

 into tile form of a lion. 



Seed Changes Beneficial 



The good effects of changing seed has 

 long been known in the case of other crops 



-wheat, corn, barley, etc. — but until re- 

 cently sugar-cane has been supposed to be 

 exempt from the workings of this prin- 

 ciple, says Tropical Life of London. Re- 

 cently, however, a great deal of attention 

 has been paid to the importation of new 

 varieties, the raising of seedlings, not only 

 in Hawaii but in other parts of the world, 

 and the changing of canes from one planta- 

 tion to another. In the British West In- 

 dies the old Bourbon cane is being replaced 

 by more hardy, disease-resistant seedlings. 

 This changing of seed from one district to 

 another, the acclimatizing of varieties, and 

 the raising of seedlings in the hope that 

 more prolific and more resistant varieties 

 may be secured, is one of the lines that 

 has great promise for the future. 



Beehive in the form of castles and cottages. 



Rosella Superceding the Cranberry 



The Rosella promises to supercede the 

 craiiberrj' in many places in the United 

 States, but its valuable qualities have long 

 been recognized in Cuba where the plant 

 grows freely. In the matter of taste the 

 sauce of rosella can hardly be told from 

 the cranberry, and in South Texas, says 

 the San Antonio Express, many truck 

 growers have supplied the local merchants 

 with rosella instead of cranberry with prac- 

 tically the same degree of trade satisfac- 

 tion. 



"The rosella, moreover, possesses the at- 

 tractive trade advantage of being two col- 

 ors, red and white, and alongside of it may 

 be growing a ijush l)earing red fruit. The 

 product of the rosella plant is really not a 

 fruit ; it is the fleshy, acid cycles of the 

 flowers that are used for making sauces, 

 jellies and refreshing drinks. 



The average yield of the plant is twenty 

 quarts to the plant, with an average price 

 of five cents per quart. The rosella plant 

 in some instances grows to a height of 



