1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



445 



MORE ABOUT POULTRY IN THE SOUTHWEST 

 FLORIDA KEYS. 



The hen I mentioned that stole her nest 

 and came off with a brood of twelve chick- 

 ens about Feb. 1, a little later became trou- 

 blesome in the garden, and so Mr. Shumard 

 caught her and put her over the fence with 

 the rest, supposing she would call the little 

 chicks. Well, either she did not succeed in 

 calling them or else they preferred to stay 

 around the house (that "pocketful of wheat" 

 was a factor in their decision), even if it 

 made "a home without a mother;" and al- 

 though the temperature went as low as any 

 time during the winter, and we had some 

 cold storms of 24 hours' duration, these lit- 

 tle chaps that never kneiv what a shelter 

 was are now the strongest and healthiest 

 chickens I ever saw. At night they stayed 

 in the woodpile of round logs and limbs, and 

 were scudding about when it was raining 

 considerably, evidently because they liked 

 the fun of it, and nothing else. As there 

 were three broods to be fed out of that 

 "pocket" I finally made a little enclosure 

 that would admit the chicks but keep out 

 any of the older ones that occasionally 

 "jumped the fence;" and during the rainy 

 days they would go "streaking it" for the 

 wheat (ten rods away) whenever they got 

 hungry, in a way that was really comical. 

 As nearly as I can make out, they took care 

 of themselves when not over three weeks 

 old. Just think of it! a climate where there 

 is no need of incubator, brooder, coops of 

 any sort, nor even a natural mother after 

 they are three weei?s old! All you need to 

 do is to get rid of their natural enemies of 

 the island, and give Nature "full swing." 



I questioned Mr. S. about insect enemies; 

 and, as nearly as I can make out, he pro- 

 cured his stock from some that were abso- 

 lutely healthy and clean, and has been very 

 careful ever since about taking any chances 

 in the way of infected fowls. It is no more 

 than fair that I should add his egg-yield has 

 fallen off a good deal since he fenced the 

 poultry off on the north part of the island. 

 Laying hens, or at least his laying hens, 

 seem very fond of human companionship. I 

 can not avoid the conclusion that they like 

 to have their nests near where the family 

 live, and that they take a sort of pride in 

 making everybody aware of the fact when 

 an egg has been laid. There is some excite- 

 ment in being chased off the garden; and 

 when they are once convinced their owner 

 loves and admires them; they don't mind 

 having a "scrap" or two occasionally. 



They like to be around where there is some- 

 thing " doing." 



Poultry are very fond of " donax," and it 

 would be an ideal animal food were it not 

 for the trouble of getting them out of the 

 sand. I suggested teaching them to follow 

 the waves and help themselves; but they 

 say poultry are rather shy of salt water. 

 Ducks will go right into the salt water and 

 help themselves; and if they can thrive on 

 animal food alone, here is the place where 

 the owner would have nothing to do but to 

 gather his eggs and sell them. 



I saw quite a flock of wild ducks feeding 

 on donax this morning. Not long ago, I am 

 told, a nice flock of tame ducks came along 

 the beach, and were taken up and cared for, 

 and, up to the present time, nobody knows 

 where they came from. These things I have 

 mentioned may seem at first glance trivial; 

 but they tell us what is possible, and, with 

 a little care and investigation, I think a 

 great business might be worked up here 

 with very little expense for fixtures. 



GREEN FOOD FOR FOWLS AND CHICKS. 



From the great avidity with which fowls 

 here devour green stuff in the garden I am 

 convinced it will pay well in eggs to grow 

 something to supply this craving. Lettuce 

 is all right, and I have been experimenting 

 on other garden stuff. I had three rows of 

 spinach in my little enclosure of two- foot 

 netting. While this kept out the grown 

 fowls, the two-inch mesh admitted that 

 brood of twelve at their pleasure; and as 

 soon as my spinach took on its second leaves 

 they followed the rows from end to end, 

 snipping the green shoots every morning. I 

 have been wondering if this daily ration of 

 young spinach, with the wheat, has not 

 something to do with their wonderful agili- 

 ty, strength, and endurance. With the ants 

 and other insect food they get, does it not 

 make just about a " balanced ration " that 

 our experiment stations talk about so much? 



THE BEES ON OUR ISLAND. 



Although we have had drones flying to 

 some extent for more than a month, I am 

 ashamed to confess I have not at this date 

 a single young laying queen. The drones 

 reared occasionally in worker- cells by our 

 imported Caucasian either did not answer or 

 the weather was hardly warm enough, and 

 still enough so to favor the meeting between 

 drones and queens. On the 14th of March I 

 saw a young queen that was hatched on the 

 6th leave her nucleus hive. I called to some 

 friends near, and m about twenty minutes 

 she came back with very plain evidence of 

 fertilization. To-day, March 16, I sat down 

 in front of the same nucleus hive to see how 

 much pollen was coming in. Just about the 

 time a queen begins to lay, pollen usually 

 begins to come in pretty lively. To my sur- 

 prise, this queen came out of the entrance, 

 walked around on the front of the hive, and 

 then went back inside. I called Mrs. Root. 

 The queen soon came out again, took wing, 

 and was gone about ten minutes. This she 

 did three times— the last time being gone 



