AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



139 



No. 1 colony, their condition at the time, 

 the age of the queen, and whether her 

 wing is clipped or not (this is very im- 

 portant to the bee-keeper). On the 

 second page record No. 2 colony, and so 

 on, until you know the exact condition 

 of every colony you have. Whenever a 

 colony is changed in its location, make 

 the same change, with its corresponding 

 number that is recorded in the register. 



If your book is a large one, perhaps 

 you could record 2 colonies on the same 

 page — one at the top and the other half 

 way down. When they swarm be sure 

 that you do not neglect to make a 

 minute of the same in the proper place 

 in the register. For if one keeps his 

 register all right, as it should be kept, 

 it will save the apiarist a good deal of 

 time and trouble, and on occasions when 

 he will hardly want to spare the time. I 

 could give maijy more reasons why it 

 pays to keep a register, but time will 

 not permit. 



The rrext convenience we must have is 

 a bee-house, or an extracting-room — 

 simply a place to extract the honey and 

 work with it ; and even store it until 

 ready for market. It should be so con- 

 structed that it could be closed perfectly 

 tight, or, in other words, bee-tight. 



There is another necessity that I 

 hardly know how we can get along 

 without, and that is a small tool house 

 for the tools that are in almost daily 

 use in the apiary, which should be kept 

 in as handy a place as possible, for when 

 a couple of swarms issue at the same 

 time, one would not have much extra 

 time to hunt up a bee-cap, smoker, 

 frame-lifter, knife, and numerous other 

 things not mentioned here, but if they 

 were in their proper place, there would 

 be no bother. 



A CHEAP LITTLE TOOL-HOUSE. 



Take four pieces of 2x4, two of them 

 6 feet long, and two 5 feet long. 

 Place the two long ones in front, about 

 5 or 6 feet apart ; the other two back of 

 them about 8 feet, and lay the floor 1 

 foot from the ground. Board up the 

 two ends from the floor, and also the 

 back, put on the roof, and one has a 

 nice tool-house, and a cheap one, too. 



A cheaper tool-house than the one 

 described, is a common dry-goods box. 

 Some use them for want of time to con- 

 struct the other kind. ^ The main thing 

 is to have one of some kind for conven- 

 ience sake. 



The tool-house should stand close to 

 the path that leads from the house or 

 bee-house to the bee-yard, and should 

 also stand facing the path (or walk) so 



that if, at any time, one is called to the 

 bee-yard in a hurry, as he goes by he 

 can take with him the tools needed. 

 This is convenient, if one will only take 

 pains to put tools in their place after 

 being used, and this is where the trouble 

 lies, for we are all liable to forget, and 

 not put them back. 



Some may think that there is too 

 much red-tape about this work, and that 

 there is no use of being so particular 

 about everything. But I tell you, if we 

 expect to succeed, we have got to be on 

 time, and have things ready, and one 

 cannot possibly have them too handy. 



We must not do as the school teacher 

 did. When he went into the bee-busi- 

 ness, he said there was no use of so much 

 folderol ; and when there was anything 

 wanted, it was time enough then to get 

 it. "But," he said, "I will get me a 

 good book on bees, telling me what to 

 do, and how to do it, and study it at my 

 leisure." So he did. 



When the bees swarmed he danced 

 around, and threw water, etc., and at 

 last got them nicely clustered on a tree. 

 Then what to do he did not know, so he 

 ran to the house, found his book on bees, 

 and by the time he got the information 

 he so much desired, and had the hive 

 ready to put them in, the bees had 

 become tired, and had flown to parts 

 unknown. He then made up his mind 

 that it was best to have everything 

 ready, at all times. 



Another thing that is very convenient, 

 and also quite necessary to have, is one 

 or more barrels of water standing 

 around in different places in the bee- 

 yard, according to the size of the yard. 



In speaking of the different tools, I 

 will mention those only that I consider 

 actually necessary. At the start I will 

 say, get a good mowing outfit, the old 

 style Armstrong machine, a good scythe, 

 and a good sickle. 



A good spring wheelbarrow is also 

 very handy to use in a bee-yard, es- 

 pecially by one who is not able to carry 

 heavy things. It is to be used for carry- 

 ing combs to the bee-house to be 

 extracted, moving colonies of bees to 

 different parts of the yard, and, in fact, 

 it comes very handy for most anything — 

 even to take a load of honey to market 

 with, as I have done many times. 



If one runs his bees for extracted- 

 honey, a good extractor" will be needed, 

 of which there a number of kinds. A 

 good uncapping knife is also needed, 

 and must be procured. There should 

 also be a wide-bladed knife, say 3 inches 

 wide, and 12 or 14 inches long, to be 

 used for cutting the brace-combs that 



