288 FORTY YEARS AMONG THE EEES. 



well satisfied if I could get all my colonies to contain 

 four combs well filled with brood by the middle of May. 

 Some of them may have at that time brood in nine or 

 ten frames, but more of them could have all their 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 com- 

 mon thing for bee-keepers to unite two weak colonies 

 in the fall. Suppose a bee-keeper 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 division-board were placed between the two 

 sets of combs, would he not see the same result? Not 

 quite, I think, but nearly so. They would hardly be so 

 warm as without the division-board, but nearly so ; and 

 both queens would be saved. In the spring it is de- 

 sirable to keep the bees warm. If two colonies are in 

 one hive, with a thin division-board between them, they 

 will be much warmer than if in separate hives. The 

 same thing is true in winter. I have had weak nuclei 

 with two combs come through in good condition during 

 a winter in which I lost heavily ; these nuclei having no 

 extra care or protection other than being in a double 

 hive. You would understand the reason of all this easily 

 if in winter you would look into one of these double 

 hives in the cellar. On each side the bees are clustered 

 up against the division-board, and it looks exactly as if 

 the bees had all been in one single cluster, and then the 

 division-board pushed down , through the center of the 

 cluster. 



