278 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



room enough in one half of a ten-frame hive. I am not sure 

 that any of them ever need more room through the fall and 

 winter, and in the spring they need no more till more than four 

 frames are needed for brood. With some, this may come quite 

 early, but I think I should be well satisfied if I could get all my 

 colonies to contain four combs well filled with brood by the 



Fijj. '105 — Weighing Colonies. 



middle of May. Some of them may have at that time brood in 

 nine or ten frames, but more of them could have all Iheir brood 

 crowded into three or four combs. 



ADVANTAGE OF DOUBLE HIVES. 



Now if, during' the time I have mentioned, we can have two 

 colonies in one hive, we shall, I think, find it advantageous in 

 more than one direction. It is a common thing for beekeepers 

 to unite two weak colonies in the fall. Suppose a beekeeper has 

 two colonies in the fall, each occupying two combs. He unites 

 them so they will winter better. If they would not quarrel and 

 would stay wherever they were put, he could place the two 

 frames of the one hive beside the two frames in the other hive, 

 and the thing would be done. Now, suppose that a thin divi- 



