1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



367 



honey and young larvae as they had done in 

 former days. 



Ky the way. friend King is a pretty deter- 

 mined man when he sets out to succeed. He 

 found the ants did most of their brooding in 

 rotten logs in the woods, so he took his wife's 

 flock of poultry, coaxed them out into the woods 

 with corn or other grain, then chopped open 

 the logs and taught them to devour the white 

 larviv of the ants. The chickens soon became 

 very fond of such food, and in time he came out 

 victor. The ants got along very well with the 

 water-troughs and even the ditch; but when 

 he retaliated by taking his hens out into the 

 woods to eat the ants' larva? — their children — 

 instead of letting them eat the young bees 

 from his hives, they concluded, evidently, that 

 this was a little too much. It was the last 

 straw that broke the back of the camel, you re- 

 member; so the ants packed up their tents 

 and moved away to a healthier locality. And, 

 by the way. there is a lesson or two right here. 

 When we begin to wage a determined warfare 

 on any insect-foe— so determined as to take up 

 the aggressive instead of the defensive, and 

 follow "them to their holes as it were — they will 

 pretty soon take the hint and abandon the 

 ranch. Tracking and chasing them up to their 

 breeding-places is. a great many times, cheaper 

 than drugs— Terry's plan of managing potato- 

 bugs, for instance. 



BRE-PARALYSIS IN FLORIDA. 



Friend King has had some experience with 

 bee-paralysis, and he tried an experiment that 

 was new to me. He took some of the brood 

 from a suffering colony, and put it with a 

 healthy colony to see whether the bees, when 

 they hatched out, would have the paralysis. 

 Has anybodv else ever tried this? Is the 

 disease one of the brood, or is it something that 

 the bees get after they are able to fly ? If I re- 

 member correctly, he said they had no paralysis 

 in the new hive on a new location. This does 

 not strengthen my position that I took so many 

 years ago; namely, that the diseased bees were 

 those reared from a certain queen, and that, 

 when you remove the queen and put in a 

 healthy one, the disease is cured. 



On this Florida soil, where fertilizers must be 

 used, at least on the greater part of it. I found 

 there is much discussion and much uncertainty, 

 as with u<5 up north. Friend Kins paid $22.00 

 for a ton of what he called Gainesville fertilizer, 

 and he says he does not believe it did him a 

 nickel's worth of good. Very likely it was 

 something his soil did not need. His poultry 

 manure, however, always gives a sure and 

 profitable return; and he says he verily be- 

 lieves the manure from the poultry is worth 

 half as much as it costs to feed them, even 

 when fed on grain that has to be shipped down 

 from the North. In other places I found simi- 

 lar statements. Poultry manure always tells 

 on almost all kinds of garden stuff' or fruit. 

 One of Mr. King's neighbors saved half an 

 acre of melons during the freeze by covering 

 them with sand. He is an unmarried man, and 

 went out to see his " best girl " on that event- 

 ful night. When he returned home to his 

 ranch at half-past eleven at night he realized 

 the danger his melons were in. You know 

 melons are planted a good way apart, and 

 therefore it does not cost so much to cover each 

 hill with sand. He worked about three hours, 

 and all were saved except a few where he did 

 not put on quite enough sand. Friend King 

 saved 1500 tomato-plants through the first 

 freeze, by a similar proceeding; but he lostthem 

 all during the second. Some of them had to- 

 matoes on at the time, as big as hickorynuts. 

 When I was able to get around, my friends de- 

 clared I must stay at least one more day to visit 



PEIJCAN ISLAND. 



It was not altogether curiosity that made me 

 want to see this wonderful island. As the 

 water all about the island was quite shallow, 

 we were obliged to use a row boat; and even 

 this ran aground so many times that we were 

 some time in finding a landing, and succeeded 

 only by wading (Mr. King curryUig his better 

 half) ashore. Before we reached the island a 

 swarm of these strange birds, with their queer- 

 looking pouch or gripsack hanging to the under 

 side of the bill met our view. They are as large 

 as a good-sized goose, or perhaps a little larger; 

 and we found them not only filling the air but 

 on the water all around the island; and on the 

 island itself were hundreds and thousands, ap- 

 parently sitting still with their funny-looking 

 heads sticking straight up. and that long queer 

 bill, with its appendage, hanging almost 

 straight down. They did not seem to be very 

 much afraid of us, for we could come up near 

 enough to hit them with clubs were we vicious- 

 ly disposed. Hundreds of nests met our view 

 containing eggs, young just hatched, and from 

 that up to birds of all sizes until some of them 

 were ready to fly. The freeze had driven the 

 fish away into deep water, and the poor things 

 were having a sort of famine on account of 

 the unu«ual cold. In fact, the young pelicans 

 were suffering to such an extent that, when we 

 came along, they would open their mouths and 

 beg most piteously for their accustomed food. 

 They even hopped out of their nests, and ran 

 after us with mouth stretched wide. The scene 

 was so touching and painful that I turned 

 away. The friends assured me that nothing 

 could be done but to wait for warmer weather 

 and the reappearance of fish. This island has 

 probably been the breeding- place of these birds 

 for ages. In fact, the manure has accumulated 

 to the depth of several feet, covering the island, 

 and almost extinguishing vegetation of every 

 sort. At one time it was suggested that this 

 sea-bird manure might be of value like guano; 

 but the trouble is here, the fertilizer is not only 

 drenched by the incessant rains of Florida, but 

 at stated periods the salt water is blown by 

 winds almost over the entire island. One won- 

 ders why thfse birds should come from miles in 

 every direction to congregate on this one par- 

 ticular bit of land. The island contains per- 

 haps some four or five acres; and it is almost 

 completely monopolized by the birds. If these 

 birds have been in the habit of roosting and 

 nesting here since they came on the face of the 

 earth, why should not this deposit be still 

 larger? I believe friend King told me that 

 the oldest inhabitants have a sort of tradition 

 that there tvas a time when the island was not 

 thus occupied. If this be true, what should 

 cause the birds to change from one place to an- 

 other? I afterward discussed the matter with 

 the State Chemist, of LakeCitv. He also agreed 

 that the accumulation of fertilizer was of little 

 or no value. The guano of commerce all comes 

 from islands where little or no rain falls, or 

 from caves where birds and bats congregate, 

 protected from the rain and its consequent 

 leaching. 



The second thing that interested me in re- 

 gard to this island was the fact that here, right 

 under my eyes, was a poultry establishment 

 carried on entirely without the guiding hand 

 of man. The birds themselves, and the in- 

 stinct implanted in them by the great God 

 above, managed the whole thing and did it 

 successfully. Now. if pelicans can breed and 

 multiply enormously without human agency, 

 why can not a properly arranged island or in- 

 closure be made to do the same with common 

 fowls? If we have not breeds adapted to the 

 circumstance demanded, then get somebody to 



