Show oregon hens are wise worth their weight in coined sll ver Is the value attached to his flock of hens and chickens by W H pen ning the most extensive producer ot hone in the alfalfa region about on tano this high price for poultry is not on account of the beauty or size or bedl gree of his flock but on account of their haylna developed a faculty or in to distinguish between a working bee and a drone which en ables him to secure a much larger yield of honey from his hives as his keep the number of lazy idle drones who are not armed with stings but who have good appetites reduced to a minimum and more cells are filled and sealed dally by the busy wort ers mr penning told the Oreg onlan the story of the wonderful development of his hens which are allowed to ann at large among his beehives and who have a fondness for bees bugs grass hoppers and other insects but which generally have learned to leave bees entirely alone having in their early attempts at swallowing them found that pain and danger lurked in the stings within the past year or two be has noticed his hens peeking into the en trances of hives and occasionally seizing a bee which after placing on the ground and examining critically they would sometimes swallow and sometimes allow to fly away this resulted in a careful invest gallon by him of the strange action of the hens and he soon found that the fowls had learned to distinguish the and useless drones from the armed working bees and that in consequence the number of the eat ers but non producers of honey was being kept within reasonable limits he has also discovered that this season the old hens have taught their chickens how to distinguish between the two classes of bees he believes that no other fowls have ever ac quiren this valuable knowledge and bas not found anyone who has ever heard of such knowledge being dis played by any fowl or bird portland oregonian |