114- FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



from the upper story and put below, an empty comb be- 

 ing put in its place above. But unless the colony is very 

 strong, this hinders rather than helps the building up. 



I may say here that after a good deal of experience 

 with colonies having two stories, I find that there is no 

 trouble from having the queen stay exclusively in one or 

 other of the stories. She passes up and down freely, 

 keeping filled with brood in both stories as many combs 

 as the bees will care for. 



SUBSEQUENT OVERHAULING. 



Any overhauling subsequent to the first, is an easy 

 matter. As a broodless frame was left at the farther side 

 at the first overhauling, and the brood-nest commenced 

 with the next frame, I can count that the bees will con- 

 tinue this arrangement, only in some cases there will be 

 brood found in the outside frame. So in any examina- 

 tion after the first, I commence at the near side and when 

 I come to the first frame of brood, I need go no further, 

 for I know that the brood-nest will occupy all the rest of 

 the combs except the outside one. If they have not plenty 

 of feed, of course it can be given, although it may not 

 often be necessary to give stores the second time, for in 

 this locality they can get good supplies from fruit-bloom, 

 I suppose they can forage upon 10,000 fruit-trees without 

 going a mile. 



If, however, the first frame of brood I come to, con- 

 tains only sealed brood, I must look further to see whether 

 they have eggs or very young brood, for it is possible 

 they may have become queenless. If eggs are plentiful, 

 but no unsealed brood, I know that they have a young 

 queen which has commenced laying, and I must find her 

 and clip her wing. 



If there is nothing but sealed brood, and no eggs, I 

 am not sure whether they have a queen or not, and it is 



