ROBBING. 



380 



ROBBING. 



should be kept wet for at least an hour or 

 two, and possibly till sundown ; but before 

 strewing the grass on the entrance we would 

 advise contracting it down so that only one 

 or two bees can pass at a time. Never dose 

 the entrance up entirely, no matter how bad 

 the bees are robbing. On a hot day the large 

 number of robbers in the hive, together with 

 the regular inmates, would be almost sure 

 to smother to death. 



Another and better way to treat colonies 

 that are nearly robbed out is to take them 

 down cellar and put robber-traps in their 

 place. This will be more fully explained 

 further on. 



When robbers get to be very bad in the 

 yard, a pailful of water and a small dipper 

 can be used to good advantage. We will 

 say that h'^re is a hive where the cover does 



CONVENIENT CAOE TO SET OVER HIVE THAT IS BEING KOBBED. 



not fit closely. Around the crack the rob- 

 bers are clustering in large festoons. To 

 blow smoke on them drives them away for 

 only a moment; but to wet them down with 

 a dipperful of water has a very much better 

 effect, especially if you succeed in wetting 

 tlie crack. Covering the hive that has been 

 attacked, with a wet blanket, also works 

 well. Use water and plenty of it, but smoke 

 sparingly around the colony that is being 

 attacked. 



Anotlier way to protect a robbed hive 

 is to put a bee-tent or screen over it, as 

 described further on. This should be an- 

 chored to the ground, and then the robbers. 



as fast as they come out of the hive, will 

 escape into the tent. In the mean time no 

 more can get in, because the hive is closed 

 to all outside bees. In half an hour or so 

 the tent should be lifted for a moment, 

 turned upside down, when the robbers will 

 immediately fly toward home. Or, better, 

 make a hole in the peak of the tent— one or 

 two holes will do no harm. The robbers will 

 gradually work up toward the peak, and, 

 traveling along, will discover the opening 

 and return home; on the principle of the 

 bee-escape, not one of them will think of 

 going back to the hole whence it came, but 

 will make a dive for the front of the en- 

 trance, which is barred by the mosquito-net- 

 ting. In lieu of the tent a large piece of 

 mosquito-netting could be thrown over the 

 hive, and held down by means of a few 



bricks or stones around 



its edges. 



Sometimes where a 

 colony has been almost 

 completely robbed out 

 it is better to let the 

 robbers finish up the 

 job; for it is a fact that 

 when the entrance is 

 closed or further in- 

 gress to the hive has 

 been shut off by means 

 of a tent or otherwise, 

 those same robbers will 

 then pounce on other 

 nuclei in the immedi- 

 ate vicinity, because 

 the use of the tent or 

 the wet grass does to a 

 certain extent change 

 the appearance of the 

 hive, causing the rob- 

 bers to conclude they 

 have made a mistake, 

 and that, therefore, the 

 hive they have been robljing is one next to 

 or near it. Dr. C. C Miller and a num- 

 ber of other prominent bee-keepers believe 

 that, when a colony has been almost com- 

 pletely robbed, it should be left alone. As 

 soon as all the honey is gone, and there is 

 nothing more for the robbers to get, they 

 will quietly withdraw, go back home satis- 

 fied, and conclude they have taken all the 

 honey: but when the supply is shut off sud- 

 denly those same bees knmo there should be 

 more, and conclude there must be a way to 

 get it, and so they keep up the search for 

 some other colony that may have a supply 

 equally available. 



