THE BEE-KEEERS' REVIEW. 



267 



As the season advances, preparation for 

 swarming commences; and when I find 

 an egg in a queen cell I note it down by 

 a simple dash. If I find brood in a queen 

 cell I make two parallel dashes. Should 

 I find sealed queen cells and I do not ex- 

 change the brood combs for dry ones or 

 remove the queen I destroy the cells and 

 mark the number with three parallel 

 dashes. vSometimes I find it almost im- 

 possible to find a queen, and I look the 

 hive over every eight or nine days 

 and destroy all queen cells; continuing 

 this to the close of the swarming season. 

 It is interesting to note how many times 

 bees prepare to swarm and then change 

 their minds. 



When I remove; a queen from a colon}' 

 having the swarming fever, I mark it 

 with a .square, and remove all sealed 

 (|ueen cells. Eight or nine days later I 

 go over such hives again and cut out cells, 

 when I mark the square with one diagonal 

 mark. When I give them a queen I 

 mark again thus, making a cross inside 

 a square. Later, when I find my young 

 queen laying all rignt, I mark with a cir- 

 cle. A circle, you know, denotes com- 

 pleteness. Should my <jueen be destroy- 

 ed when on her wedding trip, or by the 

 bees of her own hive, I give them two 

 or three combs of young brood and mark 

 with a cross. Often I use abbrevalions; 

 as (;. D. C. fur "gave dry conil)s;" I). O. 

 for "drone laying (|ueen." 



Numbers at the outer ^)V right baud 

 side of the Ijoanl iiidicale the amount <>t" 

 sugar s\rup to be fed to fit the colony for 

 winter. 



I have not given the.se signs or short- 

 hand methods because I think they are the 

 best that might be invented, for I have 

 usually used what came into my mind on 

 the spvtr of the moment, but simply to 

 show how much time some such method 

 will .save the bee-keeper both in writing 

 down and afterwards in reading. When 

 I have been over a yard and marked them 

 in this way, I can sit down and tell at a 

 glance the exact condition of every hive 



in the yard, just how many are queenless, 

 just how many ought to be requeened, 

 how many are preparing to swarm, etc. 

 If we wish to remember just the condi- 

 tion of our surplus sections we can give 

 their approximate condition of fullness by 

 fractions, thus, '4, }4, ^4 and so on to 

 the end; thus saving a large amount of 

 time when time is to the largest degree 

 valuable. 



Another advantage in keeping such a 

 record is that we learn many important 

 facts that would otherwise escape our 

 notice. 



MiDDi.KHURY, Vt. Jnne 20, 1898. 

 THE CRITIC CRITICISED. 



The Prevention of After-Swarm in)». — A Few 



I'ariinn Words on the Facin)» of 



C()ml) Honey. 



o. M. DOOUTTI^E. 



' ( lirciiaistancee alter cases. 



pRO. Taylor 

 ^ tells us in 

 the Review, page 

 244, that "It is 

 so seldom that 

 h e fi n d s a n y - 

 thing to critici.se 

 i n Doolittle's 

 statements that 

 he must not fail 

 to take advan- 

 tage of it when 

 he does find something." Well, Bro. 

 Taylor, I am glad you took pains to crit- 

 ici.se the thing you did, for now I have a 

 chance to say a few words that I have 

 long wanted to say; and had 3'ou criti- 

 cised many other things I have " stated," 

 which would not ' ' hold water, ' ' I tniglit 



