BEES AND POULTRY 
107 
from California and Wisconsin to New 
York and Florida, they not only began 
buying colonies of bees, but gradually in¬ 
creased their number until now it is not 
uncommon for a fruit-grower to own a 
large apiary. So far from adding to the 
expenses of fruit culture, the surplus of 
honey obtained has proved that beekeeping, 
in this connection, may become a very 
profitable side line. One man, or force of 
men, can care for the bees a part of the 
time, and for the fruit trees the other part, 
and thus be able to furnish two of the 
finest sweets in the world—the sugar, in 
fruit and the sugar in the nectar of the 
flowers. 
Within the last few years the citrus- 
growers of California and the southern 
States, particularly Florida and the Isle 
of Pines, have in many instances increased 
the quantity of fruit produced by their 
groves by the introduction of the domestic 
bee. While the number of colonies re¬ 
quired has been estimated as low as one per 
acre, to pollinate the bloom thoroly four or 
five are desirable. 
In warm climates where the bees can 
fly during the entire period the bloom is 
open, a less number of bees will be re¬ 
quired than in the North where the work 
of pollination may have to be accomplished 
in a single day, or even two or three hours. 
During the time the trees are in full bloom, 
there are often many days that are cloudy 
and chilly when the bees can not get out. 
Unless there is one warm day, or at least 
a few hours of bright sunshine, there may 
be a shortage of fruit because the bees 
are unable to get out and do their work. 
Should there be only two or three hours 
of good weather when the bees can fly, 
obviously there will be need of more bees 
than if there were a whole week of warm 
air and sunshine. In a cherry orchard not 
many miles from where this is written, it 
happened one spring that there were only 
two or three hours during the entire time 
when the bees could fly. The result was 
apparent the following summer. Only 
those trees that were within 50 feet of a 
hive had full fruitage, while those located 
further away had few or no cherries. The 
case was so marked that the owner of the 
orchard sent word to have the author come 
and see what the bees had done. He then 
remarked that if he had had ten times as 
many bees in the orchard, a hive under 
every tree, he could have secured full fruit¬ 
age. As it was he had only one colony to 
the acre. With four or five days of good 
weather this would have been enough. 
BEES AND POULTRY. — Under the 
head of Bees and Fruit-growing it is 
shown how beekeeping and fruit-growing 
go well together. If there is any industry, 
aside from that of growing fruit, that com¬ 
bines nicely with the keeping of bees, it is 
poultry. When the bees require the most 
attention, the poultry needs the least. 
When chickens demand the most time, the 
bees are taking their long winter sleep, and, 
of course, require no attention, or very lit¬ 
tle. In the more northern States, at least, 
the bees are put into winter quarters along 
in the fall, and require almost no attention 
until the following spring, along in April 
or May. During this time the chickens 
require considerable care. If one would 
have early broilers in the spring, he must 
start his incubator going early. He must 
feed his chickens so that they will lay dur¬ 
ing the winter, and not only that, but give 
him fertile eggs so that he can start his 
incubator. Incubator work and the brood¬ 
ing of chickens take place in the spring. 
The bees’ at that time require a little atten¬ 
tion in the way of feeding and going over 
to see whether any of them need uniting; 
but, beyond that, they will not require very 
much care until about the middle of May 
or the first of June in the northern States. 
In the South honey would come in much 
earlier and of course chickens would be 
able to take care of themselves that much 
earlier. Just about the time the bees begin 
to require considerable attention, the hens 
will begin to lessen their laying, and 
the weather will be such that they will not 
require such careful feeding; for usually 
they can get a good deal of their green 
food directly from the ground. At that 
time the beekeeper will be either giving 
his colonies more room or extracting. If 
the chickens require a good deal of his 
time then, he can simply put extra supers 
on his hives, piling them one on top of 
the other, until he has the hives stacked up' 
three or four stories high. If he prac¬ 
tices swarm prevention by the methods 
