426 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the profit side. To sum up, greater egg yield, greater number of chickens 

 hatched and raised, thereby less expense in raising them, are arguments 

 in favor of pure-bred chickens being of superior utility. 



In this age of progress it behooves every farmer to progress and not 

 to stand still. The successful farmer of today is he who has kept pace 

 with the upward march of improvement in all its details. Brain work 

 comes to the f ront.with its glorious results, and the old haphazard 

 method of keeping poultry without profit is a thing of the past. In its 

 place are found systematic business plans, resulting in success through 

 the replacing on our farms of thoroughbreds. 



BEES. 



F. W. Hall in Wallaces' Fanner. 



If there is anything near and dear to the human heart, it is some- 

 thing good to eat; and if there is anything better than honey — real good 

 pure bee's honey — we have not yet discovered it. I shall not have much 

 to say about honey, but will confine my talk mostly to bees. There are 

 many varieties, both wild and domestic, but I shall deal only with the 

 domestic honey bee. The leading facts in the breeding of bees ought to 

 be as familiar to an apiarist as similar facts are to the breeder of domes- 

 tic animals. To make a success of either, one must put his soul into the 

 work and give attention to the many, many little details. This is espe- 

 cially true with bees, for successful bee-keeping is made up of little de- 

 tails. A few c-ude and half-digested notions, which were quite satisfac- 

 tory to the old-fashioned bee-keeper will not satisfy the bee-keeper of 

 today if he hopes to reap financial success. Our present conditions 

 make a systematic management necessary. 



Almost any locality where vegetation grows has "nectar" enough go- 

 ing to waste, within bee range, to supply a neighborhood with that de- 

 licious, wholesome, healthful article of diet — honey. Many little ailments 

 might be averted in the family if honey was eaten with the regular meal, 

 instead of so much other sweets. Honey is more easily digested than 

 sugars and "all glucose" mixtures, and besides possesses a goodly amount 

 of medicinal properties. Not only should a few bees be kept on every 

 farm for the honey and wax, but for the part they play in the polleniza- 

 tion of plants, and especially fruit. Horticulture and "apiariculture" go 

 hand in hand, their relations are mutual. 



The honey bee can flourish only when associated in large numbers, 

 as in a colony. Alone, a single bees is about as helpless as a new born 

 babe. The hive has movable farmes in which the bees build their comb, 

 suspended from the top bar of the frame. These combs are formed of 

 hexagonal cells of various sizes, built out from a mid-rib, or septum, in 

 which they raise their young and deposit their stores. 



In a colony of bees is found a bee somewhat larger and considerably 

 longer than the rest. In olden times this was called the "king bee" but 



