A YEAR AMONG THE BEES. 
25 
warm, being closed in by a division-board, and well covered 
over the top, and yet I have been disappointed to find less 
difference resulting, than it seems to me there ought to be. 
If my colonies were all good and strong in the spring, I am 
not sure but I might do as well to give them the full quota 
of combs and let them fill up at leisure. I usually allow, at 
the first overhauling, at least plenty of room, although a 
weak colony may be shut down to the two or three combs in 
which brood is found. 
If I find. a colony short of stores, at the first overhauling, 
it is supplied immediately, either with a comb of honey from 
some colony which has died, or with a comb of sugar syrup. 
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 five into one, and the united colony seemed to do no 
better than one left separate. About all I try to do, is to keep 
the queen alive till I find some queenless colony with which to 
unite them. 
One year I took the queens of five or six very weak colonies, 
put them in small cages, and laid the cages on top of the 
frames, under the quilt, over a strong colony. When I next 
overhauled this colony, its queen was gone, probably killed 
by the bees on account of the presence of other queens, but 
the queens in the cages were in good condition, and became 
afterward the mothers of fine colonies. I had put two of the 
queens in one cage, as I was short of cages, and did not 
attach much value to the queens, and these two did as well 
as the others. Of course this was an exception to the general 
rule. 
And now my lack of system in spring confronts me, and 
makes it difficult for me to represent things as they really 
are. I said the first thing after I got the bees out was to 
overhaul them, giving stores to such as were short. This is 
hardly correct as to all times. When I fed in the open air, 
this feeding rather preceded the overhauling. While the 
bees were being taken out of the cellar, any specially light 
