The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-26

was some count in Portugal, and if 1 would
make an offer he would write 10 hin
Then perhaps, they. would rent it? What!
A Portuguese count stoop to such a thing
as renting an abandoned plantation I'm
possee-ble! 'l3ilt could so there and live
If liked; occupy the old house, pillow, dig,
plant, anything chose, as long as / did
not mine the minerals, all for no charge.
NOW, WASN'T l in great luck, friend?
TWO crops of honey a year, and no rent
to pay. Nine thousand acres of land
tons of flowers and a view of JanlaicaI +
fixed up few rooms in the old house.
and my boarding house folks thought
was going there to raise coffee, and laugh
ed at me. Coffee! / might as well try to
raise coffee pots, knowing nothing about
the business. You'll laugh on the other
aide of your mouths said to myself,
when you see my bees at work. Why
was the coffee plantations abandoned?
Don't ask me. Because it didn't pay,
suppose. There's a hundred of them along
the edge of that mountain, all abandoned.
You can buy any one of them for 50 an
acre. but you'll wish you hadn't
However, June came at last, and
went home and prepared to emigrate. NY
men thought. 1 was crazy at first, but
when Explained matters they got as en-
thusiastic over IL, as l was. Two crops
of honey a year! Very well; we packed
the bees in the fall and shipped them here
to New York. Pack bees? OF course, you
can pack bees. We just boxed the hives
and marked every box Bees
Don't be bashful about the cases.
boys 1 told them when they were stow
ing them on deck. L know you like to
smash things. Smash away if you want
to. They'll speak for themselvesv
They didn't smash any cases, and we
got to Santiago all right-the bees and
myself and one white man that I took
along; and four-horse team carted them
up to the plantation in three loads. eighty
six hives and our trunks and things. Yes.
they always draw loads with four-horse
or four-ox teams down there You see
the roads are so bad it takes one horse
to drag another along.
We opened the cases and stood the
hives in rows out in the thick Of the
mowers, and out came the bees. They
were bewildered at first and didn't do
anything but just look at the view. |
DIDN'T blame them. A hundred thousand
acres or view, easy, and not a cent to
pay! But it didn't take them long to
find out what sort of country they'd come
TO. You just ought to have seen them
work! They couldn't stir two feet in
any direction without striking a f1ower
/ and every flower was full of honey. 1t
seemed to me as if they were saving in
spanish: Why didn't you bring us here
before? This is a peachp
An, my little heartiesr said to N.Y.
ser. GU don't know the best of it vet.
l Iou ooh know that these flowers are
1t out" 'oN - iiiiu
YES they found it out; oh, YES. thew
FOUND 1t out, as you shall see. The honey
began to come, and l was proud of INV
Idea that the view looked better than
ever The original plan was to ship the
money 10 New York, but I soon found
there was no need for that. They had no
money IN Santiago, and they snapped mine
up like hot cakes. That was better vet
Two crops year and a market at the
door.
You shiftless people!' 1 used to saw
to myself Whenfthey handed me over their
good silver for my honey, to live all vour
lives in country where you can get two
crops~a year, but never build a hive!
Give me a yankee for enterprisep That
was natural, wasn't it? Wasn't it natural
for a man to feel so, with 100000 people
there fll fond Of honey, and not a hive
on the island-except mine?
wen, the bees put in their finest work
that winter. Yes, must say that for
them; that first winter the little rascals
worked shke-iike. well, like bees in a
flower patch, and nothing works harder
than that. We kept the hives well strip
ped, and marketed as good a crop as ever
l did in Orange county New York.
mat was only beginning you see.
The bees had shown that they could work
in winter as well as in summer give them
chance. OF course, they didn't know it
was winter, being so warm. Now we had
the regular summer crop to look for.
You see knew what l was about
didn't II asked my man. I've got an
Idea, andsI liYed up to it, didn't 1? A
man who had no ideas, who had no pluck
nor enterprise, who never went off to see
the world, would be satisfied to stay in
Orange county and raise bis one little
crop year. But I'm not that sort of
man.
by spring the. hives were empty, the
honey was sold, and ] had the money in
my pocket. Now for the regular summer
crop. Very likely that would be even
larger, the bees being more use to work.
ing in summer. And they went at it like
good fellows. My, how they did work
The flowers were plentier than before,
and when 1 walked out over the fields it
seemed as if every flower had its bee
gathering honey for me. 1t did me good
Nto watch them; and at night figured up
the profits on two crops every year.
But one day my man came in from the
hives. and said he:
They're not making any money
Not making any money! 1 exclaimed.
why, just look at them. There's bee at
work on every flower
That's all very WELL said he, but
they're not storing any honey in the hives.
Go and see
Then, what are they doing with it?'
1 asked.
Looks to me as If they were eating
it, said he.
80 l went out to the hives, and, sure
enough, there was not spoonful of honey
there,not one spoonful in the whole eighty
six hives. And there never was a pound
of honey in all those hives again. No, sir;
after the first winter we never got even
the start Of crop. My idea was exploded.
We split up the hives afterward to boil our
coffee with"
But what was the natter" The Sun
man asked.
"Why, II was plain enough" the old gem
tleman replied. MY idea was all right as
far as it went. hut it didn't go far enough.
IT somebody had told me in the beginning
that bees don't store honey in hot coun-
tries, I'd have saved my time and money.
But they don't. because they don't have
to. They eat it as fast as they make IT,
because they can always get material for
more. Here they have to save it Up for
winter food, but there they don't That's
a point in natural history that l did not
know before, but / know it thoroughly
l.. IN