FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 49 



lluougii the middle, so tl;at llie one set of stitclies does the whole 

 business, the first leaf being continuous with the last leaf, (he 

 second continuous with the next to the last, and so on. 



HISTORY OP QUEENS. 



While the record-book is very important to keep track of 

 the work from day to day, it is perhaps more important for the 

 purpose of tracing the history of queens from year to year. On 

 each page is left a margin of about % of an inch. In that 

 margin is put the last two figures of the year in which the queen 

 is born, '99 if she was born in 1899, '01 if in 1901, and so on. 

 Tn that margin is also found anything important to have record- 

 ed about the queen. " Very cross " may be in the margin if the 

 workers distinguish themselves in that direction; " seals white " 

 if the capping of sections was uncommonly white; "dark" if 

 the workers were unusually dark, etc. Especially am I inter- 

 ested in the memoranda in the margin relating to swarming and 

 storing. You will find sw if the colony of that queen swarmed 

 last year; no c if no queen-cells were found in the hive during 

 the whole of last season; 21^ if I twice killed queen-cells that 

 were started. No doubt the printer will feel like putting some 

 periods after these contractions. Please don't do it, Mr. Printer, 

 for T never take time to use any such embellishments Avhen 

 making entries. The number of sections stored by the progeny 

 of the queen the preceding year has a place in this margin; 24 

 sec if 24 sections were stored ; 160 sec if so many sections were 

 stored. If an unusual number of sections was reached, that 

 record follows the queen as long as she lives. For instance, in 

 the year 1902 there may be found in one ease in the margin, 

 14 sec, 60 sec in 1900, 178 in 99. That means that the progeny 

 of that queen stored 44 sections in the pieoeding year, 1901, 60 

 sections in 1900, and 178 sections in 1899. An unusual record, 

 considering the character of the seasons in 1900 and 1901. If, 

 in the year 1902, a 1900 queen is by any means replaced by a 

 young queen, a line is drawn through the 00 and 02 is written 

 below it. 



As soon as I have entei-ed in the record (he old numbers 

 that were on the hives, as pre^•iously mentioned, I am ready to 

 enter the respective ages of the queens. If, for instance, I find 



