1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



309 



from the hives until about July 20. 

 Then again in August, and sometimes 

 in September, we get another lift. 

 The honey that I take is all from al- 

 falfa and sweet clover. The svi'ect 

 clover could not be grown here suc- 

 cessfully until my bees came, because 

 it would not fertilize, and the fields 

 had to be reseeded each year. So 

 you see the bees not only work for 

 me, but they work for all the farm- 

 ers in the valley, too." 



As there are about forty to sixty 

 thousand bees in a colony, Mr. Story 

 is the proprietor of about 9,000,000 

 stings, yet seldom gets one himself. 

 "It's very simple," he says, "because 

 bees are naturally friendly and tend 

 strictly to their own business. It is 

 only when they have been dis- 

 turbed that they get reckless with 

 their stings. I handle them very 

 gently and on most occasions do not 

 find it necessary to use smoke. My 

 experience with them has taught me 

 that they are a good deal like human 

 beings, for they are most tractable 

 when they are well fed." 



We have all gazed with amazement 

 on the "Bee Wizard" in the side-show 

 at the county fair; watched him put 

 them in his mouth ; let them swarm 

 and hang from his chin like a 2-foot 

 beard; and do other wonderful 

 stunts with them, all of which is very 

 simple if you know how. The se- 

 cret of it, says Mr. Story, is that the 

 bees are full of honey, too full in fact 

 to double up and sting, and also lack- 

 ing in the inclination, because they 

 are overfed and lazy. • 



All men can't be beekeepers, of 

 course, but the man who finds his 

 health impaired and is forced to seek 

 light work, might take a new lease on 

 life and find pleasure and profit in 

 bee culture and the sale of its mar- 

 ketable product — honey. Having 

 taken their cue from Mr. Story, it is 

 reported that the National Bee- 

 keepers' Association, of which he is 

 a member, will adopt for its slogan, 

 "Eat Honey and Keep Well." 



Colorado. 



WHY APIARY RECORDS? 



By Arthur C. Miller 

 Why keep apiary records? Well, 

 why? What do they tell? Of what 

 use or value are they? Do they 

 lessen labor, facilitate work or re- 

 duce cost of operation? And if they 

 do one or all of these things will not 

 the time and labor of making and 

 consulting them more than offset the 

 gain? 



I have seen and used many sorts 

 and kinds of record systems and I 

 believe I have a fair idea of their 

 virtues and vices, and when properly 

 kept I am sure their virtues more 

 than offset their vices. Before start- 

 ing records one must have a clear 

 idea as to what it is desirable to re- 

 cord. If one is searching for breed- 

 ing stock one sort of information is 

 wanted, if one is playing with all 

 sorts of manipulation another sort 

 of facts must be kept track of, while 

 the busy commercial honej' producer 

 needs something entirely different. 

 Let us consider the last and most im- 

 portant case. 



Such a man wants to cut corners, 

 save time, lessen labor and his rec- 

 ords should be brief, easily read and 

 show at a glance what colonies need 

 to be looked at, when and what for. 

 He does not want to needlessly open 

 a single colony, and when he opens 

 one he wants to know just what to 

 look for. Further, if he must send 

 a helper, he wants to be able to tell 

 him exactly which colonies to attend 

 to, and what is needed. 



The first necessity is some method 

 of designating the colonies, and a 

 numerical system suggests itself, so 

 numbers are put on the hives, the 

 hives get moved and interchanged 

 and the number system becomes a 

 confusing jumble. To avoid it, num- 

 bering the stands is substituted and 

 that trouble is over. If a colony or 

 a part of one is moved, it is only 

 necessary to indicate it on the record, 

 and no confusion can occur. 



The busy man needs to know but 

 few facts, and the better beekeeper 

 he is the fewer items he has to set 

 down. But he wants his records to 

 show two things distinctly, namely, 

 what has been done and what is to 

 be done. On his first inspection in the 

 spring he wants to know the fall 

 condition of each colony. With this 

 information before him a very casual 

 glance into the hives will tell him all 

 he needs to know. If the record 

 shows that a particular colony had 

 abundant food, a young queen and a 

 goodly population, a brief glance into 

 the hive or a glance at one or two 

 combs will tell whether all is well or 

 otherwise. He knows that colony 

 should be strong and booming, and 

 he knows that all he must look for 

 is stores to be sure that breeding has 

 not depleted them too far. In the 

 case of a colony which had a full 

 larder and a young queen, but possi- 

 bly a little short of bees, or too 

 many old bees, he looks to see if the 

 population has kept up and increased. 

 If it has not, he follows his custom 

 under such conditions. If a colony 

 otherwise normal was a little short 

 of stores in the fall he goes to it pre- 

 pared to give food in some form. If 

 a colony had an old queen he knows 

 why it has not kept up or increased 



and he knows what to do. His rec- 

 ords show which colonies went into 

 winter .quarters small; but with a 

 young queen and plenty of food, and 

 he can instantly put his hand on the 

 one he wants to combine the poor 

 one with, if that is his practice. 



The ideal colony first referred to 

 needs little time to inspect or record. 

 He notes that on his next trip that 

 colonj' will need one or more supers, 

 as his custom or location demands. 

 So we see that a useful record must 

 show conditions as they were, as the 

 colony is one factor, queen age or 

 strain is another, brood condition "an- 

 other, food another and storage 

 room present or needed is another. 



All of these things and many more 

 are often set down in long hand in 

 a blank book, and it makes a prideful 

 thing to the keeper, but to the rushed 

 man and to those unfortunates who 

 have to have special glasses for read- 

 ing, such records are far from a 

 pleasure. Then the abbreviations 

 used are frequently ambiguous and 

 confusing and we often find a lot 

 of non-essential facts which only add 

 to the labor of using the records. 



Records kept on or in the hives 

 have their value, but it is limited, and 

 they are too easily moved, misplaced 

 or lost. A book of some sort, loose- 

 leaf or otherwise, seems preferable. 

 I have used for years a loose-leaf 

 book with a special ruling and a sim- 

 ple system of signs and abbrevia- 

 tions. It may not be perfect, proba- 

 bly is not, but it has worked satisfac- 

 torily. The principle, however, I 

 think worth passing along for others 

 to try, and they can modify it to suit 

 their fancy or needs. 



Each vertical column represents 

 days, while each horizontal space is 

 the record of the colony whose num- 

 ber is on that line. Dates are put 

 at tops of columns only as work is 

 done. Records appearing in the next 

 and undated column are of things 

 to be done. A glance down the un- 

 dated column shows at a glance just 

 which colonies are to be looked at, 

 and just for what. 



The vertical and horizontal rules 

 cut the page into squares, each of 

 which is for one day's record of one 



D. M. Story's honey bouse. The sign sold 3j,uuu pounds of honey. 



