24 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan 1 



in hand, and she tells how she talked with 

 them ; how she managed to make the under- 

 taking an easy one, and yet at the same time 

 have them recognize the reverence and re- 

 spect due to such a ceremony, as well as the 

 effect of the example on the whole of their 

 race. The ceremony was performed in her 

 own parlor, she furnishing the sponge cake 

 and lemonade and other things, to make it ap- 

 pear like a wedding. 



If there was ever a work since the world be- 

 gan that means out of the darkness, and itito 

 the light, this work at Tuskegee is just that. 

 We do not know the future of the colored 

 the race ; and, for that matter, we do not know 

 future of the white race ; and we do not know 

 how the two races are going to get along to- 

 gether But God knows, and we have his 

 blessed promise that, if we "do justly and 

 love mercy and walk humbly before God," 

 "all things shall work together for good to 

 those who love him." 



My talk just now is going to be high-pres- 

 sure poultry-raising rather than high-pressure 

 gardening. It may be I shall have some- 

 thing to say about high-pressure bee-keeping 

 before I get through. In the Pacific Rural 

 Press of Nov. 3 a poultry experiment is report- 

 ed by Prof. Dryden, of the Utah Experiment 

 Station. First we have pictures of five very 

 pretty Brown Leghorn pullets. There is noth- 

 ing in the looks of any particular one of these 

 pullets to indicate that she should be noticeably 

 better than any other. The experiment was 

 made to determine which hen would produce 

 the most eggs for the same amount of food ; 

 or, in other words, to determine what the food 

 cost, per dozen eggs. Well, with No. 70 the 

 food alone cost over 13 cts. per dozen. No. 

 71, the food per dozen did not cost quite 4 cts. 

 No 72, the food cost not quite 4 cents per doz- 

 en eggs. No. 73 the cost of food was 3^ cents 

 per dozen eggs. No. 74 the cost of food was a 

 little more than 6}^ cents per dozen eggs. 

 Now, when eggs are sold at 12 cents per doz- 

 en, as they often are. No. 70 was sinking mon- 

 ey for her owner every day in the year. Such 

 a flock would bankrupt the owner ; and even 

 one such hen among the others spoils the cred- 

 it of the whole flock. No one could tell any 

 thing about it from her looks. The experi- 

 ment was continued a whole year with all, so 

 as to get a true general average. 



Our brethren in the dairy business have been 

 for some time, as our readers probably know, 

 weeding out the worthless cows ; and just 

 within a short time back our friends in the 

 poultry business have been sorting out the 

 drones among their laying hens from the real- 

 ly profitable workers. For years and years 

 they have been " breeding to feather," jast as 

 the bee-keepers have been breeding for yellow 

 bands, and filling the bee-papers with adver- 



tisements of their handsome bees produced by 

 careful selection, working just for looks, or at 

 least I y^ar this lias been too often the case. 

 I have protested and scolded, but still the 

 thing has kept going on. Why, my dear 

 friends, what would you think of a young nia^i 

 who would pick out a wife " just for looks " ? 

 Come to think of it, I do not know but some 

 of them are guilty of that very thing — picking 

 out a girl just because of her good looks, and 

 then marrying her before he has had any time 

 to find out whether she is a drone or worker. 

 Well, there is one thing hopeful about the 

 wife. She may start out as a drone, but be- 

 come, by the grace of God, waked up, and 

 make one of the best workers before she dies. 

 Thank God, both you and I have seen such 

 things happen, not only with the girls but 

 with the boys. 



Well, our bee-keeping friends, nearly if not 

 quite all of them, know about the recent stir 

 in hunting up queens that produce long- 

 tongued workers. Ernest has told you that 

 these workers with long tongues seem to come 

 every time from colonies that excel all the 

 others in securing large crops of honey. It is 

 an easy matter with the bees, and it is an easy 

 matter with the cows, to tell which ones are 

 bringing in the dollars ; and if you have only 

 half a dozen hens, and not much to do, you 

 can tell pretty well the biddy that lays the 

 greatest number of eggs. But when pullets 

 are kept by the dozens and hundreds, then 

 how ? Why, I see by looking over the poultry- 

 papers that they are just having quite a big 

 stir about what they call the "trap nest." 

 This sort of nest holds the hen until her own- 

 er lets her out ; or a modification of the above 

 lets the hen go into a nest from one yard or 

 house, and when she goes off she goes out in- 

 to another yard or house. The owner can 

 then tell at once which hens have laid eggs ; 

 but to know just exactly which hen does the 

 laying, and exactly how many eggs she lays, 

 each hen must be numbered. She has a very 

 pretty little bracelet, not to wear on her wrist, 

 but on her ankle. When she lays an egg I 

 suppose she is allowed to cackle in the good 

 old way. Then when her owner comes to let 

 her out she daintily lifts her foot (I have not 

 learned yet whether she deftly raises her skirt a 

 little, but perhaps she will get to that after a 

 while) until he can read the number on the 

 aforesaid bracelet, and make a pencil-mark on 

 the door of the trap nest. These pencil-marks 

 (on a ruled card) constitute a memorandum 

 to be footed up at the end of the season. 



Now, this trap nest is revealing a great many 

 queer things. Very few hens lay an egg a 

 day, even for a week — at least some good au- 

 thorities tell me so. Some hens do, it is true, 

 in rare cases, lay an egg in the morning and 

 another at night ; but they do not lay one 

 next day in that case. Very few hens lay sev- 

 en days in a week — usually about six on the 

 average. It spoils the couplet about Grimes' 

 speckled hen. Perhaps I had better give it 

 here. It should be sung to the tune of Old 

 Lang Syne : 



whoever stole my speckled hen had better let 'er be ; 

 She laid two eggs on every day, and Sunday she laid 

 three. 



