JANUARY 1, 1914 



17 





Fig. 1. — General view of W. R. Bartlett's apiary and poultry plant, located in a young orchard, 

 similar view is shown on the cover for this issue. 



both in poultry-raising and in beekeeping. 

 Both of these pursuits require i^atience and 

 perseverance ; so success in many cases de- 

 pends entirely on the man. It is my plan 

 to keep on raising a few chickens as long 

 as they do not interfere and bother me in 

 apiary work. 

 Dundee, N. Y. 



1500 CHICKENS AND 50 COLONIES OF BEES 



Why the Two Lines Go Well Together ; Special- 

 izing in the Production of Sterile Eggs 



BY W. R. BARTLETT 



The combination of bees, poultry, and, I 

 might add, an orchard, is an ideal one. We 

 have two acres of land in a young orchard, 

 and liere we have the bees and poultry. A 

 good growth of eldei'berry bushes and small 

 trees on the south, east, and west lines of 

 the lot, and the poultry-buildings on the 

 north, furnish a good windbreak. We have 

 from 1000 to 1500 chickens and 50 colonies 

 of bees. 



As we hatch all our chickens with incuba- 

 tors we are enabled to produce eggs and 

 broilers (cockerels) when the prices are the 

 highest. We feed the newly hatched chicks 

 nothing for the first 48 hours, after which 

 one of the commercial chick-foods is given 

 every two hours for the first four or five 

 days, gradually reducing the feeding to 

 morning, noon, and night. 



The brooder house, one room 28 x 16, is 

 divided into pens by poultry wire, and a 

 lamjD-heated movable hover is placed in each 

 pen of 100 chicks. This admits plenty of 

 pure air, gives scratehing-space, and insures 

 perfectly sanitary conditions. 



Grit, oyster-shells, and charcoal are con- 

 tinually before all fowls. The morning and 

 evening meals for the fowls of all ages con- 

 sist of mixed grains thrown into the litter. 

 A dry mash, fed in troughs, is given at 

 noon. Green food is fed to all at nine in 

 the forenoon. 



At the age of six weeks the chicks are 

 placed in the colony houses and given the 

 free range of the orchard. About Oct. 1 

 the pullets are moved to the large winter 

 houses. The males are put Avith the two- 

 year-old layers during the breeding season 

 only — from January 1 to June 1. The pul- 

 lets are kept for laying entirely, as we make 

 a specialty of sterile egs for table use. We 

 have a special trade in Cleveland, wh3re 

 there is a growing demand for sterile eggs. 



We have not been in the bee business as 

 long as we have in the poultry business; 

 but we find business methods apply to the 

 bees as well as to the poultry. A complete 

 system of accounting is maintained. The 

 hives are placed in rows, each one in the 

 shade of a tree. Each hive bears a tin tag 

 on which is painted the row letter, and hive 

 immber, enabling one to locate any hive im- 

 mediately. 



