The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1906-01-31

| and the straw Tor -De0u1nS- Even the
goldenrod and clover do not lead use
less lives on this ranch, but do their
share by furnishing honey for bees.
Miss Wheeler's ranch, as seen to-
day, is the result of ten years hard
work. Financial reverses caused the
breaking up of the family home at
Orange, n. J., and after half a dozen
years as stenOgrapher and typewriter
| in New York. Miss Wheeler's health
broke down and she went up to Chazy
| to some relatives to recuperate.
Il knew l could not go back to the
| typewriter she said the other day,
so | decided to try to make my living
up here This little house belonged to
my family. but the mortgage on it
was just about to be foreclosed when
| arrived. After much consideration
l decided to try and keep the place
as a home for my mother, and with
this in view began my work. Nearly
everything had gone at sheriff's sale,
among them being some colonies of
bees, which were bought in by man
in Canada. They had been put i'm
our cellar to stay until spring, and
when the warm weather came and the
bees began to get restless I wrote to
the owner. asking him to send for
them. He decided they were not
worth the bother, so I put them out
under the apple trees.
'This was the beginning of my work |
as a bee-keeper. 1 knew little about
bees. but my first year taught me
much. My arms used to be a mass |
of stings as far as the elbow, but now
l am rarely troubled" And Miss
Wheeler proved the truth of this last |
remark a little later in the day when |
with their faces swathed in black |
mosquito netting veil, she and her
guests made a tour of inspection |
among the hives. AS she expresses |
it, she has caught the know how"
and with her bare hands she handles |
the combs covered with the fiery little |
insects almost as carelessly as she |
would pick up bread toaster.
The poultry and small fruits were
added to the farm after bee colonies |
grew so numerous that Miss Wheeler |
could not handle them alone and was
forced to engage help.
With the exception of one buff |
Wyandotte chicken, which Miss !!
Wheeler laughingly declared cost
S6.15. as it was the only one to hatch |
out of three settings that she bought |
all of the poultry at Clovernook is
pure white. 1t is a pretty picture to |
see them at feeding time as they |
crowd about the troughs i'm their |
yards. Miss Wheeler personally |
surerintends the feeding, as she does |
everything else that goes on about the |
ranch. |
In the first years of her work she |
thought nothing of climbing a ladder
to tar naper her poultry houses. but
row. with the mortgage paid off and |
with her business in such shape that
she makes $1,000 a year, that is not
necessary.
Just now her two workers are put
ting up a brOoder house of good.
strong lumher-very different from
the ''cObbled-up" affairs of former
days This house has stone fOunda-
tion and cement floor and walls. and
IS tie first brOoder house to be pat
termed afttr the one at the Stores
Comm experiment station. 1t is
brilt on a side hill and there is a
drop alleyway. which makes the floor
of the COMPARTMENTS for the different
broods level with the outdoor pens