110 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



LACK OP SYSTEM. 



I would like to say that I am very methodical about over- 

 hauling and seeing to the building-up of colonies, from the 

 time they are placed on the summer stands till the honey har- 

 vest begins, but it would hardly be in accordance with facts. 

 Conditions of bees or weather may make a difference in the 

 course of action. Possibly some other duties aside from the 

 direct care of the bees may make a difference. So when I at- 

 tempt to tell things just as they are, my want of system con- 

 fronts me, and makes the task somewhat difiScult. 



At this point I fancy I can hear some of my good friends 

 saying, "Why don't you keep a smaller number of colonies, so 

 that you can have system enough to be able to tell a straight 

 story, and derive more pleasure and profit?" I know it would 

 be more pleasure; but as to the profit, I doubt. If I had so 

 few that I could at all times do every thing by a perfec.t sys- 

 tem, I am afraid I should have part of the time a good deal of 

 idle time on my hands. Neither is it fair for me to charge my 

 lack of system entirely to the number of colonies. Some of it 

 comes from ignorance in not knowing how to do any better, 

 some of it from changing plans constantly, and perhaps some 

 of it from lack of energy in doing every thing just at the right 

 time. 



DrVISION-BOAEDS. 



In former years I made some attempt to keep the bees 

 warmer by the use of a division-board, closing down to the 

 nuhiber of combs actually needed at the time by the bees. I 

 was disappointed to find no clear proof that any great good 

 came from it. Since then the experiments of Gaston Bonnier 

 have shown that combs serve as good a purpose as a division- 

 board, so the trouble of moving a division-board from time to 

 time to accommodate the size of the colony is avoided. 



VERY WEAK COLONIES IN SPRING. 



I have had, one time and another, a good many very weak 

 colonies in the spring, and I am puzzled to know what to do 

 with them. It seems of no use to unite them, for I have united 



