102 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



uf system entirely to the number of colonies. Some of it comes 

 from ignorance in not knowing how to do any better, some of 

 it from changing plans constantly, and perhaps some of it from 

 lack of energy in doing every thing just at the right time. 



DIVISION-BOARDS. 



In former years I made some attempt to keep the bees 

 warmer by the use of a division-board, closing down to the 

 number of combs actually needed at the time by the bees. I was 

 disappointed to find no clear proof that any great good came 

 from it. Since then the experiments of Gaston Bonnier have 

 shown that combs serve as good a purpose as a division-board, 

 so the trouble of moving a division-board from time to time to 

 accommodate the size of the colony is avoided. 



VERY WEAK COLONIES IN SPRING. 



I have had, one time and another, a good many very weak 

 colonies in the spring, and I am puzzled to know what to do 

 with them. It seems of no use to unite them, for I have united 

 five into one, and the united colony seemed to do no better than 

 one left separate. About all I try to do is to keep the queen 

 alive till I find some queenless colony with which to unite them. 



One year I took the queens of five or six very weak colonies, 

 put them in small cages, and laid the cages on top of the frames, 

 under the quilt, over a strong colony. When I next overhauled 

 this colony, its queen was gone, probably killed by the bees on 

 account of the presence of other queens, but the queens in the 

 cages were in good condition, and became afterward the mothers 

 of fine colonies. I had put two of the queens in one cage, as I 

 was short of cages, and did not attach much value to the queens, 

 and these two did as well as the others. Of course this was an 

 exception to the general rule. 



Tn my locality I do not think the colonies can ever become 

 strong and populous too early in the season. Theoretically, at 

 least, then, I see that every colony as soon as it comes out of the 

 cellar has plenty of stores to last it for some time. I know 

 this is a very indefinite amount. Perhaps I might make it more 

 definite by saying, for an ordinary colony, the equivalent of 



