RECORD-KEEPING OF HIVES 
721 
fresh one. As these card numbers are very 
cheap the expense of renewal is small. 
RECORD-KEEPING IN OR ON THE HIVE. 
There are many beekeepers who think 
they cannot afford to fuss with books, card 
indexes, nor anything of that sort. Some 
of them simply write the record inside of 
the cover; but in most cases the form or 
make of cover renders this impracticable. 
One of the best schemes to accommodate 
this class of beekeepers is what may be 
called, for want of a better name, wooden 
writing tablets. These are made out of 
broken sections, IV 2 or 2 inches wide, by 
4 s or 5 inches long. But these, unless 
dipped in white lead, will soon weather- 
stain so that the lead-pencil record will be 
blurred if not entirely obliterated. To coat 
a thousand of these, dip in thin white lead, 
and lean against something until dry. In 
every case after they are painted they will 
hold lead-pencil records the entire season. 
At the author’s yards both the card index 
and the wooden tablets coated with white 
lead have been used. The tablets are for 
a temporary record, which record is later 
transferred to the card index. In connec¬ 
tion with the white tablets some painted 
different colors to indicate different con¬ 
ditions are used. With these one can stand 
in one position in the yard, and at a glance 
can easily locate a colony having a blue, 
red, yellow, or green tablet, each color car¬ 
rying its own special meaning. 
But these wooden tablets will blow off 
the hives, and become lost. This difficulty 
is easily overcome by the use of little 
spring clips made of brass; and in lieu 
of anything better, the ordinary steel super 
’springs coated with paint make a very 
good substitute. Each spring clip should 
he fastened down with a staple. The ad¬ 
vantage of these clips is that they not only 
hold the tablets fast to the hive, but they 
enable one to place the tablet in front or 
on top. Where a. colony needs attention at 
the next visit, a red tablet is placed on top 
of the white one bearing the record. If a 
colony needs feeding, a blue tablet will be 
used; if it is queenless, a green one; and 
thus one can use a great variety of colors 
to indicate as many conditions of the col¬ 
ony. In most cases a red tablet may be 
used to show anything that requires imme¬ 
diate attention. For example, a colony 
may be starting to build queen-cells. They 
should be cut out, of 
trip they will need to 
forestall swarming. 
course. At the next 
be cut out again to 
Again, a red card may indicate a failing 
queen, or a poor queen which needs replac¬ 
ing soon; a colony that is on the verge of 
starvation, a colony that has suspicious- 
looking brood, that will need another ex¬ 
amination a week hence before its nature 
can be fully determined. In like manner 
a red card may be used to indicate any con¬ 
ditions that need rectifying at the time of 
the next visit. 
The spring clips should usually be made 
out of brass, and those used in the author’s 
apiaries are made of that material, 24 
gauge, 14 inch wide, and about 4 inches 
long, bent as shown in the illustration. 
QUEEN-REGISTER CARDS. 
Another system of record-keeping that 
is popular with a few is what are called 
register cards. The accompanying plan 
shows how they are used. To indicate the 
1 23456789 
Queen Hegistei*. 
12 EG « S - 
13 MISSING. 
14 
15 TESTED. O 
No . 
BROOD. 
CELL. 
26 n 23 22 212019 18 17 SELECT Tested. 
Hatched 
MARCH. 
LAYING. 
OCT. APRIL. 
SEPT, O MAY. 
AUG. JUNE. 
JULY. 
DIRECTIONS.—Tack the card on a 
conspicuous part of the hive or nu¬ 
cleus: then, with a pair of pliers, force 
a common pin into the center of each 
circle, after which it is bent in such a 
manner that the head will press se¬ 
curely on any figure or word. 
