322 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Avas quite a puddle of water in the brooder- 

 house, right close up to the tireless brooder. 

 They stood it pretty well until morning, 

 when the strong and healthy ones were out- 

 side on a run, and the weaker ones had no 

 warm place to stay. This is one of the 

 troubles with the tireless brooder. Tlie big 

 motherly hen, in addition to about thirty 

 chicks of her own, spread her big wings 

 and feathei-s, and mothered every one of 

 these that found it hard to keep warm in 

 the tireless brooder. I tell you, a good 

 motherly sitting hen that won't quarrel with 

 her chickens, no matter whether they are 

 white, black, or yellow, is a good thing to 

 have. I feel just now like saying that the 

 best brooder in the whole world (especially 

 for the poultry-keeper who keejDS chickens 

 on only a small scale) is a good motherly 

 sitting hen. When a chick that is not as 

 strong as the rest begins to feel the need 

 of warming up, the great natural broodei' 

 (the brooder that God made) is ready to 

 welcome the poor little sufferer and warm 

 up his back and ears and toes. Under- 

 neath her warm fluffy feathers he can slick 

 out his little head and rejoice, and thank 

 God for the haven of rest when it is so 

 sorely needed. Yes, for it is a rest and a 

 " refuge " indeed. 



Another thing in favor of this kind of 

 brooder is that chickens hatched in an in- 

 cubator have to be not only taught to drink 

 but they have to be taught to eat. Several 

 times 1 have found it quite a little trouble 

 to get brooder-hatched chicks to eat bread 

 and milk. When the bread and milk was 

 set down before them, they only looked at it 

 and smelted of it; but after a motherly hen 

 had taken a mouthful in her bill and held 

 it out to them with the accompanying as- 

 surance of her voice, the chicks all gathered 

 around, and the most greedy took it from 

 her lips(?) and then when she picked u]3 

 some more and offered it to them the same 

 way, they began to catch on and began 

 looking for sometliing on the ground, or on 

 the little wooden trough or dish used for 

 their regular food. After she has had the 

 little chicks for a week or ten days, tlicn 

 the flreless brooder is all right, especially 

 if you are down here in Florida. The 

 temperatui'e, the coldest we have had this 

 winter so far, is just an even 40 degrees 

 here on our place. 



SOMETHING ABOUT INDIAN RUNNER DUCKS. 



Ever so many inquiries have come in re- 

 garding Indian Runner ducks and rearing 

 ducklings. The most of these are answered 

 in an article already sent in. Just now 

 somebodj' wants to know what kind of In- 

 dian Runners I would recommend of the 



three that are advertised and talked about. 

 Now, perhaps I am not competent to an- 

 swer such questions. This is what I tliink 

 about it. I don't think it makes a bit of 

 difference whether the ducks are black or 

 wliite or yellow. It does, however, make a 

 little difference in regard to the color of 

 the eggs. It is an easy matter to select 

 ducks that will lay white eggs from any of 

 these three different kinds. Somebody re- 

 cently asked the editor of the Rural Neio- 

 Yorker if, in his opinion, the cliickens that 

 cost so much money at the cliieken shoAvs 

 would lay any more eggs than other chick- 

 ens. The good editor, or one of his corres- 

 pondents, said that, so far as thej^ could 

 learn, it made ver}' little if any difference 

 at all. Poultry shows and the great crowds 

 that gathered there were simply to show 

 chickens that are good to look at. Now, 

 friends, especially those of you who are 

 beekeepers, j'ou well know how many j'ears 

 and how much time and money were wasted 

 in growing hecs that " looked good." When 

 Ave found bees that Avere handsome to look 

 at, and Avere lighter colored than any Ave 

 had had before, everybody was wanting 

 them; but Avhen Ave got right doAvn to the 

 facts of the case I discovered (and I think 

 perhaps hundreds of others did) that the 

 good-looking bees, as a rule, did not gather 

 as much honey as some that were not so 

 handsome. Leather-colored Italians, or the 

 hybrids, gave the honey. In almost every 

 neighborhood just noAv you Avill find some- 

 body' Avho has been foolish enough (I think 

 that is the right kind of Avord) to pay $1.00 

 apiece for eggs of chickens or ducks, and 

 even more than tliat, Avlien these high-priced 

 eggs Avon't produce chickens that are any 

 more valuable for eggs or for table use than 

 those that caii be bought at the ordinai-y 

 price. The question is, Avhat are you after 

 — beauty or utility? If you Avant to do 

 sometliing for the world about the high cost 

 of living, you don't Avant to pay 25 or 50 

 cents or $1.00 apiece for day-old chickens. 

 Vv'ithout question, if you want to pay $5.00 

 (or perhaps more) for a rooster that has 

 been reared from a hen that has produced 

 pullets that give a high record on eggs, it 

 is good sense and real science. In tliis Avaj' 

 you might also pay several dollars for a 

 pullet from such a mother. 



COUNTING CHICKENS " AFTER " THEY ARE 

 HATCHED. 



Our readers Avill remember that I have 

 said a good deal about fireless brooders 

 here in our Florida climate, saying no arti- 

 ficial heat is needed, even Avhen you take 

 chicks right out of the hot incubator and 

 put tliem immediately into the fireless 



