1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



75 



connected with her history. It some- 

 times occurs that one slate will contain 

 a record of two or three generations, 

 which Is made possible by the use of 

 abbreviations and signs requiring but 

 little space. 



We have made use of this system for 

 a number of years, and have doubtless 

 varied the original style of abbreviat- 

 ing, which we there learned, so that it 

 would not be recognized by Mr. Hall; 

 yet the following contractions, etc., of 

 a few imaginary notes convey a mean- 

 ing as clearly as though written in full, 

 and will serve to illustrate the idea. 

 Though each bee-keeper may make de- 

 ductions, additions and general 

 changes to suit his individual bee-vo- 

 cabulary: 



Jones 



A 1 Box. 



'96 



96 I Ju n. 15 Sdr|' 2 rPgmvdT 23 els dsd S V | 30 egs 

 Jy 10 clpd I 15 on U S I Ang 20 OlTl SepF24 off US, 

 out 3 frs H, OK | Nov 10 pkd, OK ] 



97 Apr 4 Bs on 5, H I 22 bd in 4, Con to 6, DN | May 

 24 gv 2 MT cl)s, SQ | Jun 8 OK | 16 on Supl 24 do | 

 Jy 4 Sup on tp I 10 put tp Sup below | 24 off 2 comp 

 Al I 28 oft- Sup comp I 30 out 1 ft H do 2 frs bd&Bs, 

 in 3 MT cbs | Oct 10 OK | _______^^ 



The squares at the top are for gen- 

 eral notes. Particularly such as one 

 might desire to consult hurriedly, and 

 having no direct reference to the work; 

 though it is to some extent an epitome 

 of that which follows. Thus: The 

 original stock is designated by "Jones." 

 Comb honey qualities A.l. Clipped 

 queen hatched June 1896. 



In "plain English" the following 

 notes are: Swarmed June 15th, 1896. 

 June 21st piping. Removed. June 23rd 

 cells destroyed, saw virgin queen. June 

 30 eggs. July 10th clipped the queen. 

 July 15th on upper story. August 20th 

 everything is "all right." September 

 24th took off the upper story, and also 

 took out three frames of honey. No- 

 vember 10th packed for winter. April 

 4th, 1897, bees on five combs, and they 

 have plenty of honey. April 22nd, they 

 have brood in four combs, we con- 

 tracted them to six combs but did not 

 see the queen. May 24th, we gave them 

 two empty combs and saw the queen. 



June 8th, "all right." June 16th, we 

 gave them a super. June 24th, gave 

 another super. July 4th, placed an- 

 other super on top. July 10th, we put 

 the top super below. July 24th, we took 

 off two completed supers of fancy 

 honey. July 28th, took off another 

 complete. July 30th, we took out one 

 frame of honey and two frames of 

 brood and bees, and replaced them 

 with three empty combs. Oct. 10th, 

 "All right," again. 



This is not given as an example of 

 proper management, but to illustrate 

 our method of keeping a record. 



COMB BUILDING IN THE OPEN AIK 

 E. T. Flanagan tells in the Progress- 

 ive Bee-Keeper of seeing a colony of 

 bees established in the open air, near 

 New Orleans. They had nine combs 

 suspended from the limbs of a mag- 

 nolia tree, and had been doing business 

 there about five months. In tropical 

 countries it is not very unusual to see 

 colonies thus exposed to the weather, 

 and even as far north as Pennsylvania 

 a similar instance has come within our 

 experience. 



In September, '96, being regarded as 

 the "bee man" of the town, our ser- 

 vices were earnestly solicited to hive a 

 swarm which a resident said had 

 "come to him." Upon investigation we 

 were surprised to find that the swarm 

 had been several weeks hanging in the 

 dense top of a maple shade tree, and had 

 several large combs. Though they had 

 lost their queen, probably in mating, 

 they were holding the fort with laying 

 workers and about three pounds of 

 bees. It was rather an awkward task, 

 yet to please our newly acquired and 

 deeply interested friend, they were put 

 into a hive, and more bees, queen and 

 honey secured to put them in condition 

 for the winter. The result is, we have 

 another bee-keeper in town, and he has 

 at present quite a nice little apiary. 



Some years ago, while engaged in 

 buying odd colonies and small apiaries 

 of the natives on the south coast of 



