A YEAR AMONG THE BEES. 
85 
made in pairs, first a light stroke, and then very quickly 
after it a heavy one. If the combs are heavy, this plan will 
not work. For heavy combs I know of no plan better than 
one I learned from G. M. Doolittle, which is this : 
Take hold with each hand at the ends of the top-bar, 
supporting the weight by the first and second fingers. Raise 
the frame, letting the thumbs be well raised from the top- 
bar. Now let the frame fall, and as it falls strike hard upon 
the top-bar with the ball of each thumb. This gives the 
frame a jerk, and it immediately gets another jerk by being 
suddenly stopped from further falling, by the fingers. There 
is something about this having the jerks in pairs, that 
breaks the hold of the bees upon the combs in a way that 
cannot be done if more time is allowed to elapse between the 
jerks. 
DOUBLE HIVES FOR FULL COLONIES. 
After the bees are fed they are ready for winter quarters, 
without further preparation. There is, however, one thing 
that I have practiced to a very limited extent, and from my 
experience so far, I expect to practice it more in the future. 
I mean putting two colonies into one hive. From the time 
the bees are fed in the summer or fall, till perhaps the 
middle of May, most of my colonies would have room enough 
in one-half of a ten-frame hive. I am not sure that any of 
them ever need more room through the fall and winter, and 
in the spring they need no more till more than four frames 
are needed for brood. With some, this may come quite 
early, but I think I should be 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 9 or 10 frames, but more of them could have all 
their brood crowded into throe or four combs. 
Now, if during the time I have mentioned, we tcan have 
two colonies in one hive, we shall, I think, find it advantage- 
ous in more than one direction. It is a common thing for 
