AlGUST, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



curling up and stinging each other furious- 

 ly; and woe to any living being that may 

 then appear on the scene of action. It will 

 require many gifts of honey to sweeten up 

 the neighbors after such a fracas. And 

 even such an inducement may be without 

 avail, if the neighbors or their stock are 

 badly stung. 



Damage Done by Robbers. 



Considerable damage nuiy be done to an 

 apiary by allowing robbing; for colonies 

 that have once robbed are more likely to 

 repeat the performance, and the next time 

 the beekeeper may not be present. 



Unless such robbing is stopped, the bot- 

 toms of many of the hives and the ground 

 in front will be covered with dead bees and 

 particles of wax that the bees have torn 

 from the combs in their frenzied snatching 

 of stolen sweets. And not only the weak 

 colonies but also some of the strong ones 

 may be destroyed in a few hours, every bee 

 in such a colony being killed and every drop 

 of honey removed. The brood, too, will 

 probably become chilled, since there are no 

 bees left to cover it. Thus there will result 

 the loss of the entire colony. Should it hap- 

 pen that a colony is about all killed before 

 the robbing is discovered, the bees should 

 be shaken off and the brood distributed to 

 other colonies in order to prevent it from 

 becoming chilled. 



To Prevent Robbing. 



The greatest trouble from robbing usually 

 occurs right after the main honey flow. For 

 this reason we have already especially cau- 

 tioned that extra care be taken when remov- 

 ing the honey from the hives. With the ex- 

 ception of the contracted entrance, every 

 crack and crevice of the hive should be se- 

 curely closed so that not one bee may gain 

 access; and if thru accident any honey is 

 spilled on the ground or hive, it should be 

 diluted with water, and all traces of the 

 honey removed before the bees can obtain a 

 first taste of the sweets. Also, if it is neces- 

 sary to remove any combs from the hive, 

 they should be placed in an empty super and 

 immediately covered with cloth. 



As previously mentioned, the windows of 

 the extracting-room should be screened. But 

 a wooden instead of a screened door should 

 be used, since the odor of the honey so read- 

 ily passes thru a screened door that clouds 

 of bees would hang about the door, only 

 waiting a chance to dodge in. 



To allow honey to drip from the lower 

 end of a solar wax-extractor is also an easy 

 way to start robbing. 



After the combs are extracted, some bee- 

 keepers pile them six or eight high, leaving 

 at the top and bottom only an opening large 

 enough for the admission of one bee at a 

 time, thus allowing the bees to rob out the 

 honey still sticking to the combs. If no dis- 

 ease is present in any colonies of the neigh- 

 borhood, and if only slow robbing is allow- 

 ed, probably the plan v.'ould be satisfactory; 

 but it would, perhaps, be a little safer to 

 place the supers of sticky comljs, three or 



four in a place, over strong colonies that 

 will readily clean them out. Between the 

 combs and the brood-chamber below should 

 be placed an escape-board having the bee- 

 escape removed and the opening covered 

 so that only one or two bees may pass thru 

 at the same time. This plan usually works, 

 tho there are occasional exceptions. 



During a dearth of honey, colonies should 

 be opened as little as possible, and not very 

 much smoke used, as the bees are more de- 

 fenseless after being smoked. All colonies 

 should be kept supplied with a queen and 

 brood, and all weak ones should be left with 

 contracted entrances, and with no more 

 combs than they can easily cover. If it is 

 absolutely necessary to work when the bees 

 seem inclined to rob, a cheese-cloth or net- 

 ting bee-tent, just large enough to place 

 over the hive and nmnipulator, may be used. 

 How to Stop Robbing. 



Italians put up a much better defense 

 than blacks; and, if attended to at the 



•^S?»«»»*<aMB«lfwr 



This is a strnns colony of bees, with its gruards out 

 in force, ready to repel any attack of robbers. 



start, it is usually easy to stop robbing 

 among Italian bees. 



In mild cases of robbing, the entrances 

 should be contracted; and over the fronts 

 of the hives that are being robbed grass 

 should be thrown loosely and kept dampen- 

 ed. 



If a colony seems quite unable to defend 

 itself, it should be placed in the cellar for 

 a day or two, and a hive containing a small 

 amount of honey left in its place. As soon 

 as the robbers have used up this honey they 

 will quiet down; while if no honey were left 

 in the place they had been robbing from, 

 they would begin robbing from a neighbor- 

 ing hive. 



When only one colony is doing the rob- 

 bing, ]>erhaps about the easiest and best 

 way of meeting the diflSculty is to change 

 places with the robbed and the robbing colo- 

 nies. 



