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FLINf, MICHieM, SEPTEMBER 10, 1890, 



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One Way To Do It — Wintering Two Colonies 



in One Hive — Advantages of Scanty 



Stores — How to Unite Bess. 



E. E. HASTY. 



'^W^- AM not entirely sure that my way is the 

 i|*) best way, but it is one way. I never 

 1^^ feed — or, say, hardly ever. It is not 

 that I have made aii.\ solemn resolution 

 never to do such a thiatr, Imt I do have a de- 

 cided inclination to get rid of it whenever I 

 can : and I pretty much always can. I think 

 I never fed a colony to w'inter them as the 

 fraternity understand the term "feeding." 

 My feeding is to set in combs of honey. 



So the i)roblem is to simmer things down 

 in such a way that their scant supply, scat- 

 tered through seven or ten combs — or twenty 

 — less here and more there, sometimes less 

 everywhere, will tide things over until 

 fl'jwers bloom again, without the unpleasant 

 murdering of bees. The first natural prin- 

 ciple we can catch hold of, to helfi us, is 

 that, practically, honey is spent mostly in 

 warming up their quarters, and that putting 

 two colonies in the same quarters reduces 

 the honey needed during the first half of the 

 winter, by nearly one-half. After breeding 

 gets well begun in February things are on a 

 little different footing; but there is still a 

 gain in the "double house" tactics. I am 

 not now talking of unifimj — will talk of that 

 l)y and by — but of putting two colonies with 

 two queens in the same hive by me; us of an 

 enamel cloth partition. The second natural 

 princii)le we can tie io is tliat during the lat- 

 ter part of wiuter honey is spent largely in 

 rearing brood: and that the advantage of 

 wiuter l)iooding is rather problematical at 

 best : and that they will raise much or little 

 according as they lia\e in mcIi or little honey 

 in store. Don't let them have very much at 

 any one time, and 11;ey will be saving. 1 

 quarrel with the teai lung that a colony 

 should be provided wi'h twenty-five i>ounds 

 of honey, or even twenty. I am well pleased 

 wi'h twelve pounds, a' d not troubled if it is 

 only eielit pounds, and sometimes I send 

 them into the wii ter with as few as four 

 jiounds. Of course jou underst md there is 

 more in the con b clo-et ready to be put in 

 when their scanty sujijily is gone. 



Now as to the mode of operating. You 

 may suppose, if you please, that I have ob- 

 tained somewhere in the apiary ten combs 

 with at least a pound of honey in each, and 



that I have them in the carriers, sitting in 

 the house in a warm place. I prepare an 

 empty hive (as hereinafter stated) and bring 

 four colonies in their hives and set them 

 conveniently near. As a next move it is 

 sometimes best to wake the bees up thor- 

 oughly by smoking them. Sometimes it is 

 well to smoke them quite awhile before the 

 rest of the operation l)egins. Sometimes it 

 is best not to smoke, except the few puffs 

 usually given when taking out frames. The 

 weather, and the mood the bees happen to 

 be in, will determine this. Two of these 

 colonies are to be united with each other and 

 (lut on one side of the partition of the empty 

 hive, aud the other two in like manner on 

 the other siele. Into one of the apartments 

 put two combs from the carrier, placing 

 them on the outrides, with room for the 

 other three betweerf. Open two of the col- 

 onies and shake a frame from each directls' 

 into the apartment, between the combs. If 

 the first frames are not well covered with 

 bees use two from each. Next put in the 

 three center frames and close the top. 

 Shake the rest of the bees in front, running 

 them in much like a swarm, only continually 

 nti.v them by taking from each hive alter- 

 nately. It is to del end their home that bees 

 fight, but in the predicament that these little 

 tellows find themselves, in a strange hive, 

 all the combs with a foreign scent, and 

 themselves mixed with strange bees, they do 

 not feel that they have anything to defend. 

 ^Vhile filling the tn-st apartment the other 

 half of the entrance is closed. While filling 

 the second apartment a piece of board is 

 temporarily fastened in front, dividing 

 things into two front yards. 



At the end of the operation I have twenty- 

 eiL'ht combs out of which to select ten for 

 the next batch of colonies. The remaining 

 eighteen are hung in the comb closet, to be 

 swapped in as they are needed in the spring, 

 or during mild days in February. If the 

 colonies are weak, as at the end of a bad 

 sea-^ou many mav be, put in three colonies 

 on each side. You don't know what a lot 

 can be got in until you try. In this latter 

 case there will be forty-two combs to choose 

 from, and thirty-two to put in the closet. , 



I have never yet had my combs so empty 

 in the fall that I could not by selecting the 

 heaviest make this method work. I have a 

 location in which (owing to large pollen re- 

 sources. 1 suppose) bees multiply like mice. 

 < )n this account the large reduction in the 



