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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



My first trial with the incubator gave me 35 

 chicks from 70 eggs, which I think is pretty fair. 

 They were put at once in a Mandy Lee fireless 

 brooder, and just now, at four weeks old, they 

 have certainly dene better than those of the same 

 age with a hen. In this region there is surely no 

 need of artificial heat of any kind for brooding 

 chickens. 1 had no mishap of any kind except 

 that two got out of the cluster one night over to 

 the opposite end of the brooder, and finally died. 

 Had I looked in, the evening before, this would 

 have been avo ded; and had the brooder con- 

 tained 50 or more, instead of 35, I think there 

 would have been no " cold corner." It is exact- 

 ly the same as with bees — if a part of the cluster 

 get off by themselves during a cold spell they 

 may chill or starve, or both. With the experi- 

 ence I have had with fireless brooders I feel sure 

 there is no need of paying any one for a patent. 

 Any sort of box or barrel that will keep out in- 

 truders and give ventilation is all that is needed. 

 For a hover over the chicks, just tack strips of 

 soft woollen cloth on the under side of a board, 

 and suspend this just above the backs of the 

 chicks. There should be some simp'e arrange- 

 ment to raise this hover as the chicks grow older. 

 While I was away one cool day they ail clustered 

 in a corner outside; and as Mrs. Root could not 

 well get them to go in, she spread a soft empty 

 burlap sack over them. When I got home about 

 dark they were as quiet, warm, and comfortable 

 under this sack as they could be in the very best 

 brooder. All that was required further was pro- 

 tection from rain and outside intruders. Below 

 is a sample of the reports that are coming from 

 those even away up north who have used the 

 " fireless. " 



Mr. A.I. Root: — Last spring we got the bee fever. We sent 

 for some sample copies and read tliem from cover to cover, and 

 had the fever more than ever. We were most impressed with 

 Gleanings, and subscribed at once. Now having read it for 

 nearly a year we have such a good opinion of it that we intend 

 to get it as long as its present standard is kept up, bees or no 

 bees. 



We read about the Philo system and sent to Mr. Philo and got 

 his book. We made some brooders and they worked finely. No 

 more artificially heated ones for us. 



Let me tell you the chicks are as lively as crickets. When 

 the first lot hatched it was about 10 above zero. As this was to 

 be a little experiment, we also had some with a clutch about five 

 days older. At the present writing, any one seeing them would 

 say the ones in the brooder are the oldest by far. With the 

 heated brooders it was necessary to sleep with one eye open all 

 the time, making chick-raising a drudgery. We once nearly lost 

 a whole brooderful by fire. Passing the house accidentally we 

 saw it and saved the ckicks and building. Like you, at first 

 we were worried about their getting too cold at night. One 

 night in particular we well remember going out to the house 

 and putting our hands in the opening, only to find it warm and 

 cozy. While it has been said t.iat " seeing is believing," it is 

 also true that trying is convincing. After they were one week 

 oU we even had to take off some of the covering for fear they 

 would sweat and then catch cold. Our friends and neighbor! 

 come and look at them now and then, and are surprised to find 

 them still alive and scratching. We intend to raise between 

 600 and 800 the coming season, all with fireless brooders. 



I say, off with your hat to Mr. Philo, for he deserves it. 



Lititz, Pa., Feb. 26. Snavelv Bros. 



HOW TO MAKE HENS LAY. 



Let US go back to the "egg business." Four 

 dozen eggs a day from six dozen hens, if it could 

 be kept up the year round, would be something 

 like 240 eggs per hen, per year, from the whole 

 rtock. This, of course, would be impossible. 

 Mr. Rood tells me the winter months are the 

 great months for eggs here in Florida; but even 

 if it is, I think few get as many as we do. 



In order to get this result, I give them corn. 



wheat, and oats, all they will eat, and they have 

 sprouted oats, soaked oats, and dry grain all the 

 time It would almost seem as if the sprouted 

 oats they dig out of the ground would be enough 

 green feed; but for almost two months they have 

 been having a wheelbarrowful of lettuce every 

 day from Mr. Rood's lettuce- fields. Heads that 

 burst, or for any reason are unfit to ship, are 

 given the chickens. Besides the above, they 

 have fresh oyster shells, pounded up every day. 

 We have excellent oysters here, right out of the 

 shells, almost every day all winter. Besides this, 

 mica crystal grit is always in a feed-hopper for 

 them. At first they did not notice it; but now 

 I buy it for them by the 100 lbs. You might 

 think this enough; but I wanted to test Mandy 

 Lee's egg-maker, and I have fed half a $2.00 

 pail of it since Jan. L As I gave it to the whole 

 flock, I don't see how I can tell how much good 

 it did under the circumstances. I know this — 

 they don't seem to like it as well as they do the 

 wheat bran wet up alone, and I have to g ve them 

 only a very little in the bran, or they won't eat 

 it at all. Because Fred Grundy made such great 

 claims for alfalfa meal, I got a bag of it; but my 

 Florida hens won't eat it at all. They go for 

 the green home-grown alfalfa, but all say "no" 

 to the stuff in bags, even when scalded and mixed 

 with bran. Crenshaw Bros, inform me that they 

 at present know of no successful alfalfa-growing 

 in the State. 



TESTING OUT THE FERTILE EGGS BEFORE PUTTING 

 THtM IN THE INCUBATOR; SEE P. 147. 



In due time I received for my 50 cts. a poorly 

 made egg-tester, exactly such as Cyphers and 

 others sell for 25 cs. , but no secret. I was in- 

 formed that I could not have it until I signed a 

 pledge "not to divulge," etc. As nothing was 

 said in the advertisement (see p. 147, Mar. 1), I 

 begged to be excused, and asked for my money 

 back, both for tester and for secret; but the fol- 

 lowing did come — no date nor name signed to it: 



METHOD OF TESTING EGGS. 



Place the tester on lamp, the testing-tube next to the burner. 



Don't turn the blaze too high, else you might beat eggs too hot 

 while testing. 



Take the egg in the finger-tips and thumb of the left band; 

 steady it with finger and thumb of right hand; place before and 

 agaitist the opening in the tube. It is always best to hold the 

 egg big end up. If infertile it will be a clear milky color with 

 never a sign of yolk to it. 



You can never make a mistake between an infertile and a 

 fertile egg. A fertile one will show the golden yolk, and will 

 be of a rich golden hue. If the ihell be reasonably thin you 

 can see the outlines of yolk, with a heavy color at the germ cen- 

 ter. The germ, if strong, imparts the color to the egg. It is 

 hardest to learn the weak-germed ones — they will show a slight 

 yolk and color, but it is always a pale sickly lemon hue. Never 

 give an egg the benefit of the doubt unless extremely high-priced: 

 then you might risk it. 



Don't mix the eggs after testing, then blame the method if 

 any fail to hatch. 



Don't think you are proficient after once testing. 



Don't use too strong light, such as an electric lamp. 



As I was just starting my incubator I went 

 over 75 eggs very carefully, and selected 10 with 

 scarcely a sign of a yolk visible. I put a pencil- 

 mark around these, and tested them daily. In 

 about three days six of the ten showed strongly 

 fertile. Out of the whole 75 I found fourteen 

 unfertile; ten more, besides the four marked ones. 

 As fourteen is very nearly 20 per cent of the 75, 

 according to the rule of chances I should have 

 found two bad ones out of the ten instead of the 

 four. Will some of our trained experiment-sta- 



