^ETTEMBEH 15, li>14 



cxIriU'liiiy Sfasiiii llic 

 colonies ready Id bi' 

 extracted are marked 

 in the same way, the 

 clods getting dumped 

 off when the hives arc 

 opened to secure the 

 honey. No minute rec- 

 ord is kept of the 

 amount of honey pro- 

 duced by each colonv ; 

 but wlien a hive fills 

 up with noticeable ra- 

 pidity after being ex- 

 tracted, the fact is 

 noted; and if the per- 

 formance is repeated 

 consistently througli- 

 out the season, such 

 colon}" will be marked " good for honey," 

 raid, perhaps, if other things are favorable, 

 will receive the remark, "breed;" which is 

 1 he highest honor we have to besto\^ . 



The selection of the few tilted for this 

 honor is undoubtedly the chief object of 

 record-keeping, though convenience and 

 time-saving are to be considered. For in- 

 stance, here is a colony needing a comb of 

 honey to tide it over. The record shows the 

 nearest hive with plenty to spare. I wish 

 to reqneen all colonies having inferior or 

 old queens. The record shows just how 

 many queens are needed, and where. I wish 

 to rear a few queens after the swarming 

 season is over. The record shows Avhat 

 colonies have old queens, and are apt to be 

 superseding, and I look there for royal jelly 

 and bees willing to care for my cells, etc. 

 In fact, the record-book is in such constant 

 use that it is about worn to a " frazzle " by 

 the end of the season, and then it is care- 

 fully preserved in the tin box along with 

 insurance policies and the deed to our share 

 of the earth. 



From the back pages of an old record- 

 book I copy the following: 



n — 31 E23 to B18 



4 — :? B7 to C18 



4 — 3 E9 to DIO. O. K. 5 — 25 



4 — 3 G26 to L27. O. K. 4 — 21 



4 — 7 K20 to K19. 0. K. 4 — 21 



4 — 7 121 to L15. O. K. 4 — 21 



4 — 7 M8 to K8. O. K. 4 — 21 



4 — 7 B16 to E17. O. K. 5 — 9 



4 — 7 06 to D3. O. K. 5 — 9 



4 — 7 E16 to H16. 0. K. 5 — 25 



This is the beginning" of the swarm-record 

 for 1910. It is a sort of daybook of swarms. 

 The first entry means that on March 31 E23 

 sw"armed with an old queen, and the hive 

 with its brood, bees, and queen-cells was 

 located at B18, the old queen and her swarm 

 being allowed to return to a hive of empty 

 combs at E23. 



Between the rtoulile rows, as, for instance, CD and EF, is a wide space 

 toward whicli the hives face. 



This record must be kept as the work is 

 done, the necessary changes and additions 

 being made at leisure in the main record. 

 OK 5-2.5 means that the hive moved to DIO 

 with queen-cells was found on May 25 to 

 have a laying queen. Evidently it was found 

 queenless when the April 21st inspection 

 was made, and had to have another cell. 



It is with this part of the record that I 

 have had the longest acquaintance, having 

 begun quite young to watch for swarming; 

 and to indicate the importance attached to 

 records with us, let me tell you one of my 

 childhood's recurrent dreams. I find myself 

 in the orchard toward evening, and discover 

 Avith a sinking heart a neatly clustered 

 swarm evidently with an undipped (and 

 therefore virgin) queen hanging to a branch. 

 Then I discover another and another; here, 

 there, everywhere, all tkrough the trees, big 

 swarms, little swarms, medium-sized swarms, 

 all quiet and compactly clustered. Black, 

 heart-sinking desjjair overcomes me as 1 

 realize the utter hopelessness of ever discov- 

 ing 30 much as a clue to the origin of a 

 single swarm, when I should have recorded 

 the source of each and every one. Then I 

 wonder how I could have been so careless, 

 and where I could have been when all those 

 swarms were coming out, and finally T 

 awake immensely relieved to find it isn't so. 

 Though it has been a number of years since 

 I watched for swarms, T dream that dream 

 yet sometimes. 



Ventura, Cal. 



[The reader should remember 'hat the 

 system of record-keeping here described is 

 the actual system that has been in use for 

 years in one of the largest apiaries in Cal- 

 ifornia. Surely more than enough time is 

 saved to compensate for the time required 

 in the keeping of the record. — Ed.] 



