JANUARY 1, 1914 



15 



noise of some kind it would cause the bees 

 to settle. 



The bee business did not pay big results. 

 If we got enough honey for the table we 

 thought we were doing well; for whenever 

 we took honey we had to kill the bees with 

 sulphur. 



Poultry was not a very paying item of 

 the farm then, as the birds were left to roost 

 in the trees and in the wagonshed, on the 

 fences — in fact, about wherever they took a 

 notion to stop. Their feed consisted of what- 

 ever they could steal from the horses, hogs, 

 or sheep. When very cold weather came, 

 and a continued cold spell with snow for 

 several weeks, my mother would issue orders 

 that the chickens that were roosting out be 

 caught and put in the hen-house; so when 

 dusk came we began gathering them in. 

 They were wild, and such a lot of squawk- 

 ing and squalling as we carried them to the 

 hen-house and dumped them in at the door ! 

 They would keep right on squalling after 

 we threw them in the house. It is not much 

 wonder tliat we did not get eggs in the 

 winter. When the warmer days of spring 

 came, and the hens began to lay a few egg's, 

 you may depend upon it we did not get any 

 eggs to eat, for they had to go to the store 

 to help buy our g'roeeries ; and from that 

 time until cold weather again those abused 

 and neglected hens would buy the most of 

 the groceries for the table. In those days if 

 the hens began to lay, then they would get 

 better care ; but when they shut off in lay- 

 ing, then the feed was stopped. Now we 

 know better than that. We must give our 

 poultry good care at all times; for when 

 moulting time comes, and the egg supply 

 slacks off, we must feed well to hurry 

 through the moult so that, without loss of 

 time, the hens will go to laying again. 



What great improvements we have seen 

 with bees as well as poultry ! Then it 

 would have seemed beyond reason to say 

 that one swarm of bees would yield honey to 

 the amount of 75 or 100 pounds during one 

 season. It would likewise have seemed in- 

 credible to say that one hen would produce 

 200 eggs per year. All this has come to 

 pass, and hens have been tested and known 

 to lay more than 250 eggs per year. These 

 hens are thoroughbred stock too. It does 

 not pay to raise any other. 



Bees have been improved, and the hives 

 have been improved, until it is a science to 

 raise and care for bees intelligently. The 

 old box hive has given way to the new frame 

 hive, and the few unprofitable swarms to 

 the prosperous and paying apiary where 

 pleasure, interest, and profit go hand in 

 hand. Likewise the old log hen-house, with 

 its mongrels, has given way to the well-ar- 



ranged poultry-house with its number of 

 thoroughbred birds, eggs in winter — profit- 

 able the year round. In the days of boyhood 

 we got ten cents per dozen (often less) for 

 eggs. Now we are selling fresh eggs at 

 forty cents per dozen. 



Bees and poultry go well together, and 

 the successful poultry-breeder is very likely 

 to be a successful beekeeper because he 

 must be a person who looks into the details 

 of his occupation and never tires of doing 

 the little things that must be looked after to 

 make success in both. A poulti-y-farm and 

 bee-raising make a combination that, if 

 looked after intelligently, and details and 

 care given to every part, aft'ord pleasure, 

 health, and prosperity. A good location for 

 poultry is a good location for bees; and one 

 who loves the work of poultry-raising will 

 find bees as interesting, if not more, and 

 very profitable as well. 



Trimble, Ohio. 



POULTRY-RAISING AS A SIDE LINE WITH 

 BEEKEEPING 



BY ROSCOE F. WIXSON 



It seems to be a noticeable fact that a 

 number of prominent beekeepers in differ- 

 ent parts of the country have adopted poul- 

 try as a valuable side issue to their business. 

 On the other hand, there are a few who rely 

 almost entirely upon the poultry as a means 

 of livelihood, making the bee business whol- 

 ly secondary, or not attempting to bother 

 with it at all. In this section of the State 

 the popular impression is that considerable 

 ought to be made from chickens and com- 

 paratively nothing from bees. 



I agree with the late E. W. Alexander, 

 who said, " If you want a larger income, 

 just add on one or two hundred more colo- 

 nies." But in my case, with only a few 

 colonies of bees and not many years' expe- 

 rience, I find it impracticable to increase 

 too fast ; and, accordingly, the fall and win- 

 ter months leave me almost nothing to do 

 with the bees. For several years I have kept 

 a number of chickens, not only to take up 

 the time but also as a means of profit. 



The accompanying view of my home yard 

 of bees shows also the two poultry-houses 

 which stand a little to the left of the pic- 

 ture. The hives and the two houses are so 

 closely placed together that it is a very easy 

 matter to attend to the wants of each with- 

 out going out of my way. 



The White Leghorn seems to me the best 

 all-around hen for steady egg production. 

 In order to keep the stock up to perfection, 

 I introduce pure stock every year. Some 

 time ago I found that a hen kept the third 



