Sep. 2, 1920.] 



Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. 



667 



populous colony. Work with the nucleus does not to any extent interfere 

 with the populous colony, and all the bees having the same colony odour they 

 can be united at any time. The colonies selected for the combined scheme 

 •should be populous. The l^est time for raising queens is naturally when the 

 colonies are contented and progressive. 



Construction of the Combining Portion. 



Figure 2 shows the combining portion of the hive in process of construc- 

 tion ; it is half an inch short of being double the length of an ideal super, 

 and its depth may be that of either an ideal super or a half-depth super. 

 The left half of this portion is set in the body of the hive, and forms an 

 ordinary super, and the right half projects as shown in Fig. 1. 



The top centre cross-bar is 2 inches deep and 1| inches wide on its upper 

 surface. (The necessity for a slight tapering from upper to under surface 

 will be apparent presently). The upper surface of this cross-bar and the 



Fig. 2. — Combining portion of the hive in process of construction, with cross-bars which subsequently 

 totm the floor and ceiling of passage between queen-raising portion and hive prcper. 



upper edges of both ends of the combining portion are rabbeted to receive 

 the lugs of the frames. When the top cross-bar is nailed in position, it 

 should be possible to put frames in each half of the portion under construc- 

 tion, and the whole should have the appearance of two supers placed end on. 



The bottom cross-bar is 1 inch square ; it is nailed directly beneath the top 

 cross-bar, and flush with the bottom of the structure. These cross-bars sub- 

 sequently form the floor and ceiling respectively of the communication passage 

 between the two sections of the combining portion. Dividing the portion to 

 be used for queen-raising is a piece of three-ply wood, which Fig. 2 shows just 

 about to be slipped into the grooves sawn in the end and in the cross-bars. 



In Fig. 3 is illustrated the construction of the communication passage 

 mentioned ; it presents the opposite view to Fig. 2, the side marked A facing 

 the end of the supplementary portion at the reader's left in Fig. 2. A and B 



