ROBBING. 



876 



ROBBING. 



often suspec^t something; so it assumes an 

 indifference it is far from feeling, and loi- 

 ters about very much as if it were at home, 

 and tinally, with a very well-assumed air of 

 one who thinks he will take a lunch, it goes 

 to the cells and commences to fill up. Very 

 of ten, when it gets pretty well " podded out " 

 with its load, some bee approaches, appar- 

 ently to see if all is right. When the robber 

 once gets its head into a cell, however, it 

 seems to have lost all sense or reason; and if 

 it is discovered at this stage to be a stranger 

 and a thief, it is often pounced upon and 

 stung with very little ceremony. How do 

 they know a stranger from one of their own 

 number, where there are so many? It is 

 said they tell by the sense of smell; this may 

 be the principal means, perhaps, but appar- 

 ently they depend greatly on the actions and 

 behavior of a bee, much as we do when judg- 

 ing of the responsibility of a man who asks 

 to be trusted. We can give a very good guess, 

 simply by his air or manner, or even by the 

 sort of letter he writes. If a robber is sus- 

 pected, and a bee approaches for the purpose 

 of satisfying itself, it is a very critical mo- 

 ment, and one becomes intensely interested 

 in watching the performance. The robber 

 will stand its ground, if it is an old hand, 

 and permit itself to be looked over with 

 wonderful indifference; but one who has 

 watched such scenes closely will detect a 

 certain uneasiness, and a disposition to move 

 slowly toward the entrance, that it may be 

 the better able to get out quickly, when it 

 discovers things to be too hot for it inside. 

 If the bee that first suspects it concludes 

 it is an interloper, it begins to bite it, 

 and grab hold of its wings to hold on until 

 others can come to help. The thief has now 

 two chances to escape, and sometimes it 

 seems meditating which to adopt ; one is, to 

 brave it out until they shall perhaps let it 

 alone, and then slip out unobserved. The 

 other is, to break away and trust to its heels 

 and wings. The latter plan is the one gen- 

 erally adopted, unless it is a very old and 

 "hardened sinner" in the business. One 

 that has been many times in such scrapes 

 will usually get away, by the latter plan, by 

 an adroit series of twists, turns, and tum- 

 bles, even though three or four bees have 

 hold of it at once. Some of these fellows, 

 by a sudden and unexpected dash, will liber- 

 ate themselves in a manner that is also won- 

 derful, and then, as if to show their audaci- 

 ty, will wheel about and come back close to 

 the noses of their retainers of a minute be- 

 fore. 



In case the bee secures its load and 

 makes its way out unobserved, it gets home 

 very quickly, you may be sure, and, under 

 the influence of this new passion for easily 

 replenishing its hive with the coveted 

 sweets, it rushes out with a vehemence nev- 

 er known under any other circumstances. 

 Back it goes and repeats the operation, with 

 several of its comrades at its heels. Does it 

 tell them where to goV We wish to digress 

 enough here to say that we do not believe in 

 a so-called language among bees, or animals 

 in general, further than certain simple 

 sounds which they utter, and which we may 

 learn to interpret almost if not quite as well 

 as they do. When a bee comes into the hive 

 in such unusual haste, podded out with its 

 load in a way also rather unusual when 

 obtained from ordinary stores, its comrades 

 at once notice it, and, either from memory or 

 instinct, they are suddenly seized with the 

 same kind of passion and excitement. Those 

 who have had experience at the gambling- 

 table, or in wild speculations of other kinds, 

 can understand the fierce and reckless spirit 

 that stirs these little fellows. Well, the 

 bees, when they see a comrade return in the 

 way mentioned, seem to know, without any 

 verbal explanation, that the pkmder is stol- 

 en. Anxious to have " a finger in the pie," 

 they tumble out of the hive, and look about, 

 and perhaps listen, too, to find where the 

 spoil is to be had. If they have, at any for- 

 mer time, been robbing any particular hive, 

 they will repair at once to that ; but if it is 

 found well guarded, those used to the busi- 

 ness will proceed to examine every hive in 

 the apiary. 



INTELLIGENCE OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



One afternoon the door of the honey-house 

 being left open, the bees were soon doing a 

 " land-office'' business before the mischief 

 was stopped by closing the door until they 

 had clustered on the windows in the room, 

 which were then opened, and the process re- 

 peated until all were out. All the rest of 

 the afternoon they were hovering about the 

 door. Toward night they gradually disap- 

 peared; and when we went down, about sun- 

 down, to try a new feeder, not a bee was near 

 the door. We put the feeder in front of a hive 

 where the bees were clustered out ; and as 

 soon as a few bees had got a taste, and filled 

 themselves, they of course went into the 

 hive to unload, ^ye expected a lot to come 

 out, as soon as these entered with their pre- 

 cious loads, but were much astonished to see 

 an eager crowd come tumbling out as if 



