GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



bees afield to ascertain the wliereabouts of 

 so much sweets. At the same moment there 

 was a rush for the feeder. Plenty of feed 

 at this late day certainly creates maximum 

 excitement for the time being. Bees on the 

 wing found the fields dry and dreary, and 

 returned, therefore, only to go out again, 

 then in an hour or so joined the throng 

 making inroads on the feeder. The outward 

 excitement having subsided, the restless 

 thousands became reconciled to the one 

 point of interest. 



Thus Mr. Byer transformed his hereto- 

 fore peaceable colony No. 8 into a teeming 

 mass of robbers. If not the regular ortho- 

 dox stealing one from another, it was essen- 

 tially the same to the bees. Then, again, 

 bees having once participated in such whole- 

 sale storing of sweets, the event is long 

 remembered, especially by those of an ad- 

 vanced age. Aside from this there are 

 always several members of a normal swarm 

 continually going hither and thither, per- 

 sistently seeking any sort of sweet that may 

 be had with less effort than going afield. 

 Vigorous colonies light in stores have this 

 habit particularly — a fact easily proven by 

 letting sweets lie about. Exposed sweets 

 mean robbing, and robbing means a world 

 of trouble; and if conditions are peculiarly 

 favorable it means the total destruction of 

 the apiary. 



Now, a few days after Mr. Byer fed No. 

 8 he likewise fed No. 12. As the bees of No. 

 8 were all too keen for sugar syrup it was 

 the natural course of events for them to 

 seek out and discover the feed on No. 12 

 hive. Those old bees previously mentioned 

 did the trick. 



At the moment the bees of No. 12, with 

 honey-sacs overfull, the brain absolutely 

 excited, nerves all aflutter, the colony be- 

 came practically the same as No. 8 as to 

 condition. At such moments of excitement, 

 orthodox rules and regulations are imme- 

 diately discarded. Such colonies maintain an 

 open doorway, so there was no opposition 

 offered the bees of No. 8 when they came to 

 raid the feeder of No. 12. According to 

 impulse both colonies were of the same 

 opinion, and the source of supply so abun- 

 dant it needed no protection. Robbing bees 

 are always too much inclined to rob rather 

 than to resort to protective methods, and, 

 like human beings of the evil class, strange- 

 ly submit to one another's company. Mr. 

 Byer rightly terms the episode peaceable 

 robbing. 



That night the bees of No. 8 returned 

 home to dream of the fine time they had, 

 and of what they were going to do on the 

 morrow. The nights being quite cool it is 



very possible the bees of No. 12 became 

 partially if not wholly quiet during those 

 iiours, although with minds not unlike those 

 in No. 8, for there were sweets yet in the 

 feeder. However, next morning Mr. Byer 

 removed the feed and feeder on No. 12 ; and 

 as soon as it warmed up sufficiently activity 

 began, and the loss of the feed became 

 known at once. Consternation prevailed. 

 The bees, being so anxious to steal, started 

 right in to relocate the feeder. They then 

 knew the exact smell of it; and the least 

 aroma of that nature caused them to make 

 a close inspection. Thus there was a second 

 excitement, but of a different character, and 

 bees of both colonies were again doing the 

 same thing. 



As before stated, both colonies were in an 

 absolutely abnormal state with all orthodox 

 laws repealed. Thus when the feeder was 

 replaced on No. 8 the bees of No. 12 soon 

 were at work on it through communication 

 — rapidly so, from the result of previous 

 robbing of their own feeder. Another thing, 

 No. 8 had an abundance of unsealed sugar 

 syru]i in their combs, and it is very possi- 

 ble the bees of No. 12 discovered it on the 

 day No. 12 was fed. At this juncture a 

 feeder was replaced on No. 12 so that both 

 had feeders. This act would naturally di- 

 vide the excitement by establishing two 

 points of interest, with the result that both 

 colonies would gradually quiet down. The 

 passing of a night would cause a return to 

 normal conditions — more perfectly so if 

 both feeders became dry at about the same 

 time. 



However, one can rightly suppose the 

 bees of No. 8 and No. 12 continued to rob 

 eacl) other to a limited extent for some 

 time. The most remarkable part of the 

 episode is the fact that other colonies in the 

 yard did not seek a hand in the excitement. 

 The bees of No. 8 very probably first dis- 

 covered the feed through the hole in the 

 gable cover ; and when the location of sweets 

 became established they used the entrance at 

 will. Mr. Byer admits No. 8 had been the 

 lightest in stores, therefore more easily in- 

 cited to rob. The majority of his colonies, 

 amply and naturally provided for, were in a 

 contented condition, with very few bees on 

 the wing, these either playing or carrying 

 water, and not so much inclined to rob. 



As to colony odor in this case, the idea is 

 a lost quantity. There is not a single factor 

 in the case to warrant the use of the term. 

 And here it might be said, though bees often 

 manifest evidences of recognition through 

 the influence of odor as regards bees and 

 queens, the use of the term " colony odor " 

 cannot be justified when applied to the 



