RECORD-KEEPING OF HIVES 
719 
erness has, moreover, to the lover of nature 
a fascination of its own. The streams are 
stocked with speckled trout, the forest with 
game, and the cut-over land furnishes an 
inexhaustible supply of huckleberries, 
blackberries, and raspberries. 
Across the Straits of Mackinac in upper 
Michigan raspberry is abundant on the cul¬ 
tivated hardwood land, and is second in 
importance only to alsike clover. In the 
acid sandy soils north of the Adirondack 
region in New York the clovers do not 
thrive, but raspberry is abundant and 
yields well. Raspberry honey is produced 
in commercial quantities year after year 
near Massena Springs. It is the only 
source of surplus and about 50 pounds of 
extracted honey per colony is obtained. 
Considerable of Franklin County is to be 
included in the raspberry area, as from 
Malone southward. 
Where the raspberry is cultivated on a 
large scale for market it is also an impor¬ 
tant honey plant. The largest acreages of 
bush fruits are located on the eastern shore 
of Lake Michigan, on the southern shore 
of Lake Ontario, in southern New Jersey; 
and around Cincinnati, Ohio; St. Louis, 
Missouri; and Los Angeles and San Fran¬ 
cisco, Cal.; and Salem and Portland, Ore¬ 
gon. The red varieties, especially the 
Cuthbert, are believed to furnish the most 
honey. Bees work on the flowers closely, 
and the honey is excellent in quality. The 
raspberry blooms between fruit trees and 
white clover, so that large fields of it are a 
great acquisition. 
Finally it is both of historical and prac¬ 
tical interest to quote Langstroth’s opinion 
of raspberry honey: “In flavor it is supe¬ 
rior to that from white clover, while its 
delicate comb almost melts in the mouth. 
When it is in blossom, bees hold even white 
clover in light esteem. Its drooping blos¬ 
soms protect the honey from moisture, and 
bees work upon it when the weather is so 
wet they can obtain nothing from the up¬ 
right blossoms of the white clover.” 
RATS. —Rats may do a great deal of 
damage in a honey-house. There are some 
old fellows clever enough to avoid traps 
and poison. The only thing to do with 
such is to shoot them by watching when 
they congregate about five o’clock in the 
afternoon in and about the out-buildings. 
A 32-ealiber Flobert rifle with shot cart¬ 
ridges, or, better, a taxidermist’s 44-caliber 
shotgun, will do good execution. 
One of the best traps that was ever 
made is the old-fashioned rabbit-trap with 
gnain spread on the bottom of the box. 
The trigger to. close the trap should extend 
down to the grain. The rats in eating will 
bump against the trigger and set it off, 
when they are imprisoned alive, after which 
they can be drowned. 
Poison can be given in the form of 
dough made of one-fifth part of barium 
carbonate, or barytes, and four-fifths meal. 
This poison has no odor nor taste; and it 
is better than strychnine because its action 
is slower, giving the rats a chance to get 
off the premises before they die. 
RECORD-KEEPING OF HIVES —Al¬ 
most every apiarist has a plan of his own, 
whereby he can record the condition of the 
hive at the time of its examination, so that, 
without depending on memory, he may tell 
at a glance what its condition was when 
last examined. 
Many of the large honey-producers have 
what they call a record book. This has a 
page for each colony, the number of the 
page corresponding with the number of the 
colony. The book should be small and 
compact, just about right to carry in the 
hip pocket, and securely bound. It should 
always be carried when at work among the 
bees. On each page is supposed to be a 
record of each colony’s doings within a 
year—when it became queenless, when it 
had cells or brood, when it swarmed, and, 
toward winter, the strength and quantity of 
stores it had when last examined. 
There is an advantage in this method, 
as the book can be consulted in the house, 
and the work mapped out beforehand for 
the day. If the record book be for an out- 
apiary, the work can be planned while rid¬ 
ing to the yard; and, upon arrival, the 
plans formulated can be executed. It is 
thus possible to know in advance just where 
to get the cells to give to queenless colo¬ 
nies; just which colonies will be likely to 
have laying queens; which ones may cast 
swarms, and which ones will need more 
room in the w-~- of sections or surplus 
combs. 
