THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



likely infested with larval bee moths also. 

 A caruival of robbing out these new colonies 

 had been held in my brother's apiary,and he 

 was too busy farmiuy to interfere. I inter- 

 fered on one occasion I remember. A col- 

 ony not far from my window at which I 

 heard a rumpus every morning before I was 

 up, I shut up tight. I knew it was not good 

 for bees to be shut up: but I pitied this col- 

 ony so— attacked at untimely hours so many 

 days in succession and holding out against 

 it notwithstanding the disadvantage of hav- 

 ing no regular bottom board, that I fixed 

 things and shut them in— surely be destroy- 

 ed if I didn't, you know. Well, it turned out 

 that they were not being robbed at all. They 

 were simply a particularly enterprising na- 

 tion of robbers,and the liot weather with the 

 additional heat which they made by trying to 

 get out melted the whole establishment 

 down and drowned the pirates in their own 

 stolen honey — a tolerably fair greenhorn's 

 caper. After that you can imagine I let 

 things alone; and robbing reached such a 

 pitch that a good colony would be attacked] 

 and the ground covered with dead before the 

 assailants would haul off. This seemed to 

 be very shocking at the time; but at present 

 I do not regard it exactly in the same light. 

 The bees that got killed trying to rob in the 

 fall are not young enough to last for next 

 spring work I reckon. It is better that they 

 clean out everything that cannot make a 

 royal light than that all these odds and ends 

 of unseaworthy colonies should try the 

 stormy Atlantic of a hard winter just as they 

 are without keeper's care or comrade's crib- 

 bage. But of course I was just right in 

 promptly putting each surviving colony in 

 shape to defend itself. And Apiarius had 

 better be the robber when robbing needs to 

 be done. 



"October 13th. Began taking up honey. 

 Nearly stopped by robbers, and badly stung. 

 Yard square of muslin tucked around the front 

 of the hive a practicable way to stop robbing. 

 Went through two hives and took 21 pounds. 

 No brood seen." 



Notice the greenness of the first sentence. 

 It is the box-hive people that say taking up 

 honey; while the professional apiarist says 

 taking ojf honey. Don't try to harvest 

 honey and close up for winter in hot Octo- 

 ber weather after autumn robbing has set 

 in. With a little sagacity you can avoid such 

 times as a well disciplined army of robbers 

 will kick up. Watch out and begin after- 

 noons just after flying ceases; and scrape 



and weigh the honey in doors while bees are 

 on the wing. The style of dealing with rob- 

 bers here snggested is crude and capable of 

 much improvement. You want a sheet 

 large enough togo over the hive and rest on 

 the ground all round. Then briskly turn 

 it over every few minutes and soon the home 

 bees will be inside and the robbers outside. 

 By the way, the last brand-new method 

 of stopping robbers seems very promising. 

 I haven't tried it yet, but I think it would 

 suffice in almost all cases. The novelty is 

 merely in combination — combining the 

 carbolic acid method with the grass method. 

 The grass method alone often suffices — al- 

 ways probably when the colony inside has 

 good fighting clothes on— but when the resi- 

 dents are weak, and in addition won't fight, 

 sometimes extra-wicked robbers will dig 

 down through the grass. But with the en- 

 trance board and front well sprayed with 

 carbolic acid before the grass is propped in 

 place probably this entrance wou Id never be 

 forced. 



"October 15th. Howed and framed stringers 

 for storage loft." 



I wanted a place to store supers, f ram es, 

 wide frames, dummies, cushions, and the 

 other multitudinous traps pertaining to the 

 apiary. Not very far away was a big shed that 

 never had its chamber floor put in. I had 

 permission to use the loft if I would floor it, 

 and did so. This move was a mistake. Al- 

 though less than 200 feet from the corner of 

 apiary it made me altogether to much travel 

 and climbing. Had I bought a trifle more 

 lumber, and built a couple of the simplest 

 little board shanties close at hand it would 

 have been better. By the way I believe in 

 having a little bit of a building, complete in 

 itself, for each purpose, instead of a large 

 building, for all purposes. This will be 

 thought a mere personal oddity; but it seems 

 to me that as a point of tactics it will stand 

 the fire of season and practice. 



"October 20tli. Went through four stands of 

 bees. Omitted to tuck trousers legs into boots?" 



How much a few simple words can convey 

 of the heart of man to man! 



" October 23rd. Went through four stands of 

 beee in the morning and four in the afternoon. 

 Pat the chaff on several stands folded in a yard 

 square of muslin. Think highly of the plan 

 Made my first sale of honey, two sections, 40 

 cents, and took the pay in tinware." 



My mid-day tribulations, as you see, are 

 already teaching me when to take the honey 

 off. I still think that folded cushions are 



