LECTURES AND ESSAYS READ AT INSTITUTES. 159 



There are six varieties of geese, of which the Toulouse is probably the best. 

 Of the ten varieties of ducks, I like the Pekiu, they are large, white, aud 

 great layers. 



Ill regard to the care of fowls, the cheapest way is to have their feed where 

 they can have access to it at all times. A morning ration of ground feed, 

 with corn at their pleasure, will insure eggs in plenty except in the coldest 

 weather. I have found boiled oats three times a week to be eagerly eaten. 

 Pure water daily is as essential as food. Fresh meat once a week 

 during the winter season is eagerly eaten. A load of gravel where fowls can 

 have access to it will disappear before spring. The walls of the poultry house 

 painted with gas tar, also the perches, will insure freedom from vermin. 

 Copperas placed in their drink is an aid to health. 



Fifty Leghorn fowls, with proper care, will pay for their feed and return 

 fifty dollars to their owner yearly. That is as great a number as can be 

 profitably kept by one f armei'. 



BEES AND BEE CULTURE. 



BY A. B. CHENEY. 

 [Read at Grand Rapids Institute.l 



Mk. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, — The above topic covers such a 

 large field that I shall only be able in the brief time allotted me to briefly 

 sketch an outline of some of the more important matters involved in bee- 

 culture, avoiding matters of mere detail. This will quite likely be most satis- 

 factory to you, as few present have more than a passing interest in this pursuit. 

 We will briefly consider 



WHO should keep bees. 



The bee-keeper, to succeed, must be a person who will acquaint himself with 

 and bring to bis aid all the wonderful improvements of the last twenty-five 

 years. As the farmer who uses the ancient sickle to reap his grain, or the 

 wooden mold-board to turn the soil must fail, so the bee-keeper who fails to 

 bring to his aid the movable frame, the extractor, the smoker, honey knife, 

 etc., will find himself far behind the intelligent apiarian of to-day. 



kinds of bees. 



My experience has been confined to two varieties, the common black bee and 

 the Italian. After ten years' trial, I fail to discover any marked superiority of 

 the Italian over the black. Each variety has its peculiar characteristics, 

 which, under certain conditions, may be of advantage and other times injuri- 

 ous. To illustrate : The Italian clings to the comb with greater tenacity and 

 does not become frightened as easily as the black bee when the comb is 

 removed from the hive. This enables us to find an Italian queen much more 

 readily than a black one. On the other hand, in removing frames of honey 

 for extracting, the Italians are much more difficult to shake or brush from the 

 comb. Again, the Italian will venture out in unfavorable weather and many 

 will thereby be lost, while the black bee is at home in safety. I am inclined 



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