FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 95 



pieces or cleats 24 inches long. That's all. Of course 

 the longer pieces are uppermost, leaving the cleats below. 

 Two similar cleats, but loose, lie on the ground under the 

 first-mentioned cleats. This makes it equivalent to cleats 

 of two-inch stuff, with the decided advantage that only 

 the loose cleat will rot away by lying on the ground, with- 

 out spoiling the whole stand. These stands are leveled 

 with a spirit-level before the hives are placed on them, 

 (sometimes not till afterward), being made perfectly level 

 from side to side, with the rear one two inches higher 

 than the front. Each of these stands is intended for two 

 hives, v/ith a space of 2 to 4 inches between the two hives. 

 It is much easier to level a stand like this than to level one 

 for a single hive. There are other advantages. 



HIVES IN PAIRS. 



This putting in pairs is quite a saving of room ; for if 

 room were allowed for working on each side of each hive, 

 only two-thirds the number could be got into the row. 

 But so far as the bees are concerned, it is equivalent to 

 putting in double the number ; that is, there is no more 

 danger of a bee going into the wrong hive bv mistake, 

 than if only a single hive stood where each pair stands. 

 If hives stood very close together at regular intervals, a 

 bee might by mistake go into the wrong hive, but if a 

 colony of bees is in the habit, as mine sometimes are in 

 the spring, of going into the south end of their entrance, 

 they will never make the mistake of entering at the north 

 end, as you will quickly see if you plug up, alternately, 

 the north and south ends of the entrance. When the 

 north end is closed it does not affect the bees at all, but 

 close the south end, and dire consternation follows. To 

 the bees the pair of hives is much the same as a single 

 hive, and they will not make the mistake of entering the 

 wrong end. 



