1894 



GLEANINGS IN P.EE CT^LTTRE. 



7:?1 



vised and perfected a system of record which 

 gives me entire satisfaction. The nearest I 

 have seen to it is in occasional hints in articles 

 from Dr. Miller and Miss Wilson, bnt never 

 any thing very definite, so far as I remember. 

 In the hope that my system may be of use t.o 

 others, I give it herewith. 



I use a small note-book, which I carry with 

 me, when at work, and a memorandum-calen- 

 dar. In order to find quickly the page I am 

 using, I slip a spring-clothespin over the oppo- 

 site leaf, the rest of the leaves, and the cover 

 on that side of the book. The pages in my 

 note-book are ruled from top to bottom into 

 seven columns — one wide column in the middle 

 and three narrow ones on each side. In the 

 first column, at the left, I designate by a (any) 

 letter those colonies that require the same at- 

 tention or are in the same condition; for in- 

 stance, all in which queen-cells should be found 

 hatched may be indicated by the letter "a;" 

 all in which young queens should be found lay- 

 ing, by ■' b," etc. The second column contains 

 the numbers of such colonies as require atten- 

 tion on a certain date. The third column gives 

 the date of last examination. The fourth 

 (wide) column is for items. If I knovv before- 

 hand what is to be done with a certain colony 

 I enter it here; and when it is done I check it 

 off in the fifth column. If the colony should be 

 found in a certain condition — for instance, hav- 

 ing a young queen bpginning to lay, it is enter- 

 ed (in abbreviation) in the fourth column, with 

 an interrogation-point; and if found as expect- 

 ed, the mark is crossed out. If, for any reason, 

 it is necessary to review previous record, I write 

 " vd." (see) in the fourth column. For economy 

 of space, and quickness of writing, I use abbre- 

 viations as much as possible in these items. 

 One or two letters are suflHcient to indicate 

 what I wish to record. Sometimes signs are 

 used. For instance, "q" for queen, "hy" for 

 honey, '" ncl " for nucleus. " Oj' " for cell in queen- 

 cell protector, " t " for dead, "'x" for clipped. 

 In the sixth column is noted the dale when 

 each colony will again require attention. When 

 I am through with my day's work I enter in 

 the memorandum-calendar, under the respec- 

 tive dates, the numbers of colonies to be at- 

 tended to on each date, and add to each num- 

 ber the date of last examination, found at the 

 head of the page in the note-book (not the pre- 

 vious date in the third column). As soon as 

 entered in the calendar it is checked off in the 

 seventh column. Thus I avoid missing any. 

 Now for the practical application: 



On the morning of any day when the calendar 

 shows that there is work to be done in the 

 apiary — or perhaps on the preceding evening — 

 I write the date at the head of a page in my 

 note-book, and then copy the numbers and 

 dates from that date in the calendar into the 

 note- book, each number being given one or two 

 lines for its special items. Under date of July 



3 I find this: 104, 38— 1(5, 1— 7:3,:^— (and perhaps 

 many more). This means that colony No. 104 

 was last examined on June 38; No. 16 on July 

 1, and No. 73 July 3, etc. Nos. 104. 16, and 73, 

 are now written in the second column of the 

 note-book on separate lines underneath each 

 other, wliile the dates, 38, 1. and 3, are added in 

 the third column opposite their respective hive- 

 numbers. As fast as entered in the note-book 

 they are crossed out in the calendar. I now 

 look back to the previous date for each number; 

 and if I find, for instance, that I gave No. 104 a 

 queen-cell in cell-protector, I write in the fourth 

 column, opposite 104, (r' h'?, which means that 

 I expect to find the cell hatched. Take No. 2 

 for an example, and let us follow it from date 

 to date: 



July :'. 

 I 73 I I Blacks; unqueen and start cs. | K | 3 | ►' 



July 3. 

 ! 72 I 2 I Took away q. and all brood. | / | 4 | / 



July 4. 

 I 72 i 3 I Gave It. bd. from 195. j ,' | 12 | .' 



July 12. 

 I 72 I 4 I Cut out qcs. left one. | / | 20 1 / 



July 20. 

 a ; 72 I 12 I c liatclied; gave brood. | t' | 28 | »^ 



July 28. 

 b I 73 I 20 I Laying, clipped, and recorded. | / j — | — 



On July 3. I see, by looking back to the pre- 

 vious date, I found it to be a good strong colony 

 of black bees, and determined to set them to 

 raising Italian queens. I therefore take away 

 the queen and all unsealed brood; note this in 

 the book, and write "4" in the sixth column as 

 the date for next attention. On the next day 

 (the fourth) I give them brood from a choice 

 queen, and mark them for examination on the 

 12th, when I expect to find queen-cells capped 

 and ready to cut out. July 13 1 cut out all the 

 cells except one, and dispose of them by dis- 

 tributing them among queenless colonies, or by 

 placing them in separate cages in a queen- 

 nursery for future use. July 30, according to 

 previous record, I find the cell, which I left in 

 No. 72, hatched. I remove the cell -protector, 

 if such has been used, and give a comb with 

 eggs (or a small square of comb from one of my 

 breeding-queens, inserted in one of the old 

 combs); "28" is marked in the sixth column as 

 the date when I expect to find the queen laying. 

 Now if, on that day, I find good queen-cells on 

 this comb (given on the 20th), I know that the 

 queen has been lost; but if such queen-cells 

 have been destroyed I know that she is all 

 right, even if I do not see her; and if I find no 

 eggs yet, I conclude that she has not begun lay- 

 ing, and make a new date, three or four days 

 later, for further examination. If, however, 

 the bees had started cells on a piece of comb 

 (or a whole one) from one of my breeding- 

 queens, the loss would not be so serious, as in 

 all probability they would soon have another 



