RATS. 



UECORD-KEEPING OF HIVES. 



RATS. Hats may and (an do a great 

 deal of damage in a honey-honse. There 

 are some old fellows that are cute enough 

 to avoid traps and poison. The only thing 

 to do with such is to shoot them by watch- 

 ing when they congregate about live o'clock 

 in the afternoon in and about the out-build- 

 ings. A 32-caliber Flobert rifle with shot 

 cartridges, or, better, a taxidermist's 44-cal- 

 iber shotgun, will do very good execution. 



One of the best traps that was ever made 

 is the old-fashioned rabbit-trap with grain 

 spread on the bottom of the box. The trig- 

 ger to close the trap should extend down to 

 the grain. The rats in eating will bump 

 against the trigger and set it off, when they 

 are imprisoned alive, after which they may 

 be drowned. 



Poison can be given in the form of dough 

 made of one-fifth part of barium carbonate, 

 or barytes, and four-fifths meal. This poi- 

 son has no odor nor taste ; and it is better 

 than strychnine because its action is slower, 

 giving the rats a chance to get off the prem- 

 ises before they die. 



RECORD KEEPING OF HIVES. Al- 

 most every apiarist has a plan of his own, 

 whereby he can record the condition of the 

 hive at the time of its examination, so that, 

 in future, without depending on memory, he 

 may tell at a glance what its condition was 

 when last examined. 



Many of the large honey-producers, Di 

 Miller among them, have what they call a 

 "record-book." This book has a page i\v 

 each colony, the number of the page cor- 

 responding with the number of the colony. 

 The book should be small and compact, 

 just about right to carry in the hip-pocket, 

 and securely bound. It should always be 

 carried when at work among the bees. On 

 each page is supposed to be a record of each 

 colony's doings within a year — when it be- 

 came queenless, when it had cells or brood, 

 when it swarmed, and, toward winter, the 

 strength and quantity of stores it had when 

 last examined. 



There is an advantage in the book meth- 

 od—and that is, the book can be considted 

 in the house, and the work mapped out be- 

 forehand for the day. If the record-book be 

 for an out-apiary, the work can be planned 

 while riding to the yard ; and, upon arrival, 

 the plans formulated can be executed. We 

 will know in advance just where we are 

 going to get cells to give to queenless colo- 

 nies; just which colonies will be likely to 

 have laying queens; which ones may cast 

 swarms, and which ones will be likely to 



need more room in the way of sections or 

 surplus combs. There is one objection to 

 the record-book, however. It is liable to be 

 lost, or to be left out in the rain ; and if the 

 book is lost, the whole knowledge of the 

 apiary, except so far as the apiarist can re- 

 member, is gone. Another thing, only one 

 can use the book at a time. 



RECORD - KEEPING WITH SLATE TABLETS. 



The plan we prefer is to attach the record 

 right on the hive itself, or, what is better, on 

 a slate* belonging to the hive. These are 

 made expressly for the purpose, and cost 

 only $1.25 per 100. They are large enough, 

 if the records are abbreviated, to give the 

 history of the colony for a year. Still fur- 

 ther, the position that these slates occupy 

 on the cover or on the side of the hive indi- 

 cates at a distance the general condition of 

 the colony, without so much as even reading 

 the record on the slate. These slates are 2f 

 by li inches, and they have a hole punched 

 near one end, so as to admit of their being 

 hung on the side of the hive. The accom- 

 panying cut shows one of these little slates. 

 For making the records, a slate-pencil, a 

 common lead-pencil, or a red lead-pencil, 

 may be used. The slate-pencil marks wash 

 out a little too easily in the rain, so we pre- 

 fer, as a general thing, a lead-pencil, which 

 does not erase except when the slate is rub 

 bed with moistened 

 lingers. By tilting 

 it a little to the 

 light, the marks 

 show quite plainly. 

 In the slate above we 

 have given an example of the records we put 

 on. Perhaps it may not appear very intelli- 

 gible to the reader. Cell 6/19 means that, on 

 the 19th of June, a cell from the best import- 

 ed was given. lit 22 means that the queen 

 hatched on the 22d of that month. Jidy 2d 

 she was laying, and August loth she was 

 found to be a pure tested Italian queen. 

 A large 9 inscribed over the whole will be 

 noticed. This means that, on the 9th of Sep- 

 tember, the queen was sold. The accompa- 

 nying cut illustrates still another record, 

 which, interpreted, means that, on the 18th of 

 June, a best imported queen was caged. On 

 the 20th she was out and laying; and on the 

 10th of the following month she was sold. 



Every apiarist can formulate a system of 

 short longhand that will be intelligible to 



* A g'ood nitiTiy use, instead of a slute, pieces of sec- 

 tions, which are about the size. A tack pierces tlio 

 strip into tlie liive-cover to keep it from blowing- 

 away. This can be used in tlio same manner as the 

 slate ; moreover, tliey are cheap (every bee-keeper 

 has hundreds of themi, and are easy to write ou. 



%&£L (T/J/f 





