THE APIARY, 
439 
not rise to the occasion, or whose bees possess un- 
desirable qualities, or are deficient in desirable ones, 
so that a poor record is made, will retire early, while 
good average queens will be only rarely entrusted 
with the work of a third season, exception, of course, 
being made with those whose high quality has raised 
them to the rank of queen mothers. 
A register of operations is helpful where but two or 
three stocks are kept, but it is essential in a larger 
apiary, unless we are content to have vexatious failures, 
and their attendant losses, through oversights or omis- 
sions. Most men are incapable of retaining, by the 
unaided memory, such a chain of observations as will 
permit of accurate deductions respecting any stock, or 
the characteristics of its queen. In the absence, then, 
of any system of note-taking, experience, which de- 
pends upon our grip of observations in their sequences 
and mutual relations, is not likely to grow rapidly. 
How, then, shall our notes be made? In a book; or 
shall they remain attached to the stock ? Both 
methods would appear to have their place. The book 
(the hives being numbered) will preserve for reference 
facts observed at a general inspection of the apiary, 
made at a set season, such as spring or autumn, and 
may enable us to exercise unusual caution in looking 
after the wants of any stocks whose condition, from 
weakness, shortness of stores, &c., may give occasion 
for anxiety ; but the most serviceable notes, in my 
judgment, are those which centre round the queen, 
and, with a separate slate, or large card, for each 
colony, and which follows the queen in her move- 
ments, I have accumulated memoranda which have been 
