riPTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 105 



the reinforced colony. In rare cases I have had the queen killed 

 when several frames of brood have been given at a time to a 

 very weak colony. A precautionary rule is that when more than 

 one brood is given at a time, each one is taken from a different 

 colony. 



GIVING SEC UND STORY. 



AVhen a colony is beginning to be crowded and there are no 

 colonies needing help, and sometimes even when others do need 

 help, a second story is given. This second story is given below. 

 Putting an empty story below does not cool off the bees like 

 putting one above. The bees can move down as fast as they 

 need the room. Indeed this second story is often given long 

 before it is needed, and sometimes two empty stories are given, 

 for it is a nice thing to have the combs in the care of the bees. 

 They will be kept free from moths, and if any are mouldy they 

 will be nicely cleaned out ready for use when wanted. 



Sometimes when a colony is very strong and a story of 

 empty combs is given below, a frame of brood is taken from 

 the upper story and put below, an empty comb being put in its 

 place above. But unless the colony is very strong, this hinders 

 rather than helps the building up. 



So good a beekeeper as G. M. Doolittle practiced giving 

 the extra story on top. I protested, at least mentally, against 

 dissipating the heat of the colony in that way. Yet in the 

 spring of 1914 I did exactly that thing myself ! By the middle 

 of May colonies were unusually strong, and there were no longer 

 any weak colonies to which brood could be given after being 

 taken from the stronger colonies. The only thing to do was to 

 give extra stories to colonies which needed more room, or else to 

 limit the queen to one story, a very unwise thing up to the time 

 of giving supers. So I began giving to the strongest colonies 

 an upper story, putting in it two brood from below. I put the 

 extra story above instead of below, not because it was better 

 for the bees, nor to gratify Doolittle, but because that was the 

 easier thing for the beekeeper, and the bees would just have 

 to stand it. A day or two later it began to be evident that any 

 colony in the apiary might need more room, and so I made a 

 wholesale business of giving an extra story to each colony, with 



