JUNE 15, 1£12 



ly bought and sold; annual colony-recoixl, 

 and such others as the requirements may 

 demand. The pages of tliese are ruled oft', 

 and in the separate spaces headed accord- 

 ing to the character of the record being 

 kept. The annual colony-record will, for 

 instance, be headed at tlie top of each i)age, 

 something like this : 



JJate; number of colony; kind of hive; 

 (jueen — age; supers, given — removed; hon- 

 ey — lbs. ; feed, cost ; variety of bee ; gentle- 

 ness; swarming; supersedure; capjiing; 

 rating; colonies on hand. 



With such a set of books it requires but 

 a moment to enter pennanenili/ the full de- 

 tails of any operation or transaction; and 

 it is then possible, for all years to come, to 

 know at a glance exactly what each colony 

 lias done or is doing. While it is well to 

 use some system of temjioraiy hive-index, 

 with tags or their equivalent, records are 

 lost with each change that may be a daily 

 occurrence, and can never become more than 

 a minor part of any well-regulated record- 

 ing system. 



As the majority of beekeepers are now 

 beginning to take great pains in making 

 careful selections for breeding stock, it is 

 now, as never before, becoming necessai-y 

 not only to watch the progress of the hatch- 

 ing cells, but to make some definite and 

 lasting record of tlie vield and lieneral cliar- 



377 



acteristics of individual colonies; for other- 

 wise there will be no pohsihle means of de- 

 termining which are really superior, as the 

 colony tliat last year did so siilendidly may 

 this season pro\'e an utter failure, or the 

 re\-erse. The importance of keeping such 

 lecords in permanent form should, there- 

 fore, be obvious, as it is an established fact 

 that one summer is wholly insulticient to 

 pi'ove the true value of any queen. 

 Ft. Smith, i\rk. 



ORION'S HOME-MADE SAW 



Further Pariiculars Regarding it 



BY PKRCY ORTON 



Ever since you publislied the description 

 of my home-made foot-jjower saws, p. G27, 

 Oct. 15, 1911, 1 have been besieged with let- 

 ters asking about the details of their con- 

 struction. Tlie two illustrations of the bet- 

 ter-working saw of the two I made give 

 dimensions, etc. Many refrain from mak- 

 ing a start with bees on account of the high 

 price of factory-made hives. Those who 

 are ingenious, and have plenty of good pine 

 lumber, and a cheap home-made buzz-saw, 

 can easily make good hives. 



The frame is 3x3 hard wood, 32 inches 

 high, 34 wide, 39 long. The 30-inch drive- 



Detail of coiistriiction of Oitmi's liuine-made foot-power saw. 



