RECORD-KEEPING OF HIVES. 



378 



RECORD-KEEPING OF HIVES. 



himself and workmen. It takes too much 

 time to write the wliole liistory of the affair, 

 so it is better to use 

 a system of abbrevi- 

 ations; and, besides, 

 it saves room. 



In order to econo- 

 mize time in running 

 up to a slate to see 

 what it says, it is desirable to indicate, so 

 far as possible, the last record on the slate by 

 its position on the cover. 



The accompanying diagram shows a few 

 of the positions that may be used ; and this 

 number may be extended indefinitely by 

 putting the slate cornerwise, endwise, etc., 

 in the different positions sliown. But it is 

 desirable not to have too many, else you or 

 your help will be confused. 



The code below is one we have used in our 

 apiary, and it is one that can be used in most 

 yards. To make it really valuable, it will 

 be necessary to memorize the meaning of 

 each position. In the diagram given, 10 

 positions are shown ; and these have been 

 proven by actual practice to answer our re- 

 quirements. To aid the memory we will 

 make use of a simi>le analogy. We liave 



then we turn the slate parallel with the 

 giain,as shown at 4. If the virgin queen 

 should be lost, the slate is put back as shown 

 in No. 1— across the grain. Let us suppose 

 that our queen is laying, and in a month's 

 time she pioves a purely mated Italian. The 

 condition of the colony has much improved, 

 as regards the value of the queen, so the 

 slate is moved to tlie center of the hive, 

 parallel with the grain. 



So far the first five positions would cover 

 the time of queen-rearing. Rut suppose we 

 wish to introduce a queen— how shall we in- 

 dicate it V The colony with a caged queen 

 is neither queenless nor is it possessed of a 

 queen, because they may take a notion to 

 kill her as soon as she is released. To carry 

 out the figure, the colony is about half way 

 between the normal and abnormal condi 

 tion. So we turn the slate to a diagonal. 

 Position 6 means that the colony has just 

 received a caged queen. No. 7 means that, a 

 day or two afterward, she was found to be 

 out. A few days later, if she is laying, 

 the slate is put in position 4. But, suppose 

 she is missing. Then the slate is turned in 

 the position of 8. In general, position 8 sig- 

 nifies that there is scnnething radically wrong 



POSITION OF THE SLATE TO INDICATE THE CONDITION OF A COLONY. 



I. Queenless; 2. Cell; li Hatched virgin; i. Laying queen; 5. Tested queen; 6. Caged queen to be introduced; 7. Caged queen 

 out; 8. Something wrong; 9. Hive needs supers and more room; 10. No slate— hive wath empty combs, ready for a swarm. 



heard about cross-grained people— people 

 who are always out of sorts, and with whom 

 something is always wrong. For conven- 

 ience we will call a colony not in its normal 

 condition, ''cross-grained." A colony that 

 is queenless is apt to be crosser than one 

 having a queen. Such a colony, as a rule, 

 never does as well as one that has a queen. 

 It is true, also, but to a lesser extent, that a 

 colony with a virgin queen is not doing as 

 well as one having a laying queen. Well, 

 now we start with No. 1, in the diagram as 

 above. The slate is put across the grain in 

 the center of the hive. This means that it 

 is queenless. No. 2, the slate is still across 

 the grain, but near the edge of the hive ; but 

 this one has a cell. No. 3, the cell has hatch- 

 ed, and has a virgin queen ; but as the colo- 

 ny has not yet reached its normal condition, 

 the slate is still laid across tlie grain at the 

 end of the cover. In eight or ten days, if all 

 goes well the virgin will be laying, and 



with the colony. It may mean that it has a 

 fertile worker, or that it is very short of 

 stores and requires to be fed at once. 



We have so far covered the history of a 

 colony as touching the rearing and intro- 

 ducing of queens. When honey is coming 

 in, it is desirable to know by the slates 

 which ones will be likely to need supers 

 soon. In 9, again, the slate is parallel with 

 the cover. This means that it is overflow- 

 ing with bees and honey, and will need, in a 

 day or two, if not immediately, more room 

 in the shape of sections or surplus combs. 

 No. 10, without any slate on the hive, means 

 that the hive in question is empty, having 

 only frames of foundation or empty comb, 

 and is, therefore, ready to receive a swarm. 

 No. 1 might mean that the hive needs atten- 

 tion or is about to cast a swarm; No. 2 

 might stand for a parent hive, and No. 3 

 might indicate a second swarm, and so on 

 we could vary the system. 



