THE CUl'.A RE\]K\V Ami Bulletin. 



hacK yard in town. llic wixjI .seed wa> 

 eaten by hens, but the silk seed came up 

 in four days af:er planting, which was 

 July 26. 'ihe plant grew phenomenally, 

 and in about forty days was seven feet tall, 

 with over seventy blossoms formed, but 

 north winds from the sea burned off all 

 foliage and tender growth on side exposed. 

 This occurred three times during the win- 

 ter and once the tree was completely up- 

 rooted, but notwithstanding all this and 

 six months' severe drouth, without a drop 

 of rain or water, except from washbowl at 

 times, the tree is now more than twelve 

 feet tall, with eight feet spread. Firsl boll 

 was picked May 13, and up to date 217 

 bolls, containing i pound 3 ounces, 3.970 

 .seeds and ^ pound ])ure lint, there are 

 more than forty bolls still on the tree ready 

 to burst and i' second crop of blossoms 

 larger than ihe first, but I think these last 

 blossoms should be removed to confine the 

 crop to the dry months. The tree cast off 

 a great many squares, but careful exam- 

 ination with a glass did not disclose any 

 cause other than severe drouth. I am ar- 

 ranging to plant two or three cabal lerios 

 next fall, forty miles east of Baracoa, 

 -where the land is extremely rich, loose 

 and level. Quite a lot of Norwegians who 

 have located around Baracoa arc becoming 

 interested in Caravonica and will test it in 

 a small way with seeds which I have been 

 distributing until my supply was exhausted. 

 Verv respectfully, 



W. H. Bemis. 



THE BEE MAN OF BAYATE. 



Bayate, 37 miles west of Santiago, on 

 the line of the Cuba Railroad, is a Swedish 

 community largely. Most have gone into 

 citrus fruit growing. One, a Mr. J. A. 

 Nystrom, has ventured into the business 

 of' honey getting wiih more or less success. 

 He has been in Bayate nearly two years 

 and his bee farm is close to the station. 

 His bees are the Italian variety and his 

 queens come from the United States. He 

 started with 230 hives, standard make, and 

 has 372 now. His receipts of honey av- 

 erage ID gallons per colony. The bees feed 

 on the flowers of the hard- wood trees in 

 the dense forest which surrounds the town. 

 These trees blossom three or four times a 

 year. Cacao blossoms, Mr. Nystrom finds, 

 make the honey dark and some other flow- 

 ers turn the honey a light green, although 

 the flavor is not impaired. 



Spring honey is bitter, and the season 

 when this may be looked for is in April 

 and it lasts some three weeks. 



Apparently, his bees work the year round, 

 but in April, May and June they breed, atid 

 for the time being collect no honey. He is 

 never required to feed them, the constant 

 growth in Cuba always providing flowers 

 at all times of the year. Has no foul brood 

 and has lost none by disease. He noticed 

 some little sickness, the cause of which was 



.Mr. N.vsli-nii; 



.Vl>iary at Ba.valc. 



unknown, but he cured the ailment, what- 

 e\er it was, by the use of carbolic disinfec- 

 tants and by transferring ailing colonies to 

 new frames. He uses a veil, but is rarely 

 stung, but he noticed that on rainy days the 

 bees were always cross. 



His market is Santiago, Sweden. Havana 

 and local. He gets 30 cents per gallon, or 



4 1-2 cents per pound, in Bayate. 'i'here 

 are twelve pounds to a gallon. In winter 

 time the honey is heavier. He gets 43 

 cents plata per gallon in Havana, but is 

 charged extra for the barrel holding 80 

 to 125 gallons, while at 30 cents per gal- 

 lon barrels are supplied free. Standard 

 hives cost $2.75 each, including freight, 

 bought in Havana. There are cheaper hives 

 which can be secured for $i.7S, but the 

 higher hives were the cheapest. One man 

 he found could care for 350 hives. He got 

 15 pounds of wax from every too pounds 

 of honey, and the wax sold for 27 cents 

 per pound. The local price for honey was 



5 cents for a pint bottle full. ^Ir. Nystrom 

 has a small workshop equipped with mod- 

 ern honey extracting apparatus, and has 

 his little venture well in hand. 



The colony in general is progressing 

 steadily. Some have left to spend the sum- 

 mer in the States, and others are coming. 

 The sawmill is running at full speed since 

 the new boiler arrived, and several new 

 houses are going up. This summer has 

 not been so rainy as the last. Engineer 

 McCormack spent a few days on his farm. 

 He has a large crew of men at work clear- 

 ing and planting, and will soon have the 

 biggest farm in the colony. The general 

 health is excellent, and the farmers are all 

 busy. 



FILLED WITH V.XLIWBLE INFORMATION. 



"The CuB.\ Review and Bulletin, an in- 

 teresting monthly. New York City, ought 

 to find its way into every business house 

 doing business with the island republic. 

 The CvnA Review is well written and 

 printed, and is filled with valuable infor- 

 mation about Cuban opportunities for busi- 

 ness." — From Packing and Shipping, Cleve- 

 land. Ohio. 



