AlGlST, 1919 



GI. EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



more iuH't;n-. If a door or wiiulow of the 

 hoiiey-liouso is loft oiu'ii, tlie beos liiid it 

 without delay. 



Not only when the flow ceases, but at any 

 time during a dearth of nectar, exposed 

 sweets soon start the bees" to robbing. It 

 is rather puzzling to understand why no 

 robbing results when nature exposes her 

 sweets in the form of acres and acres of 

 noctar-laden flowers. Yet thin nectar never 

 causes the intense excitement of exposed 

 honey. During a dearth, when bees find 

 pure" honey, absolutely free for the taking, 

 thev become intensely and wildly excited. 



Grass tliro-wn loosely in front of the entrance and 

 kept dampened helps to stop robbing. 



and rush thru the air in a mad frenzy to 

 and from the honey and hive. Unless steps 

 are immediately taken to stop the trouble, 

 the high keynote of the demoralized robbers 

 soon attracts the bees from other colonies, 

 and thus the numbers increase at an amaz- 

 ing rate until the entire apiary is in a fear- 

 ful turmoil. Angry bees may be seen fight- 

 ing, curling up and stinging each other, or 

 stinging any person who may chance to be 

 near. 



Robbing Weak Colonies. 



Not always do bees rob as furiously as 

 this. Sometimes a weak or perhaps a queen- 

 less colony, because of its defenselessness, 

 is plundered by robbers from some of its 

 prosperous neighbors. Such robbing may 

 begin in a very quiet way, but is likely to 

 develop into more serious robbing before 

 the fracas is over. After the bees have 

 robbed out a colony in this way they usually 

 make a similar attempt at every other en- 

 trance in the yard, hoping to find another 

 as defenseless as the first. 



Bees at Play. 



This quiet robbing we have just described 

 should not be confused with bees at play. 

 When young bees fly for the first time it is 

 very important that they recognize their 

 hive upon their return; therefore they fly 

 in circles in front of the hive, learning to 

 lecognize it from every angle. This may be 



I'oticed duiing the middle hours of a sum- 

 mer day, yet a close observation will show no 

 real robbing — only a happy circling about 

 in front of the hives. 



How to Recognize Robbers. 



After once witnessing a bad case of rob- 

 bing in full progress, the high-pitched note 

 and swift, rapid flight of the vicious, de- 

 moralized bees, one would have no difficulty 

 in again recognizing the trouble; but it is 

 quite important that he be able to do so at 

 the very start when it is comparatively easy 

 to stop the trouble. Whenever the beginner 

 notes any unusual activity in front of a 

 hive, he should determine whether it is the 

 beginning of robbing or only bees at play. 

 If robbing, there will often be a few bees, 

 some of them dark, shiny-looking ones, at- 

 tempting to enter the hive while alert 

 guards stationed at the entrance will be 

 most vigorously challenging their right to 

 enter — often grabbing them and pulling 

 them from the hive, perhaps curling up and 

 whirling about on the entrance board, at- 

 tempting to sting the intruders. 



When a colony is being robbed out, bees 

 may be seen running up the front of the 

 hive and then, as they take wing, falling a 

 little in their flight because of their heavy 

 loads. Young bees often run up the fronts 

 of the hives in this way, yet their flight is 

 much lighter. If there is any doubt in the 

 beginner's mind as to whether such bees 

 are robbing, he should catch one and deter- 

 mine whether or not she is carrying a load 

 of honey. 



Seriousness of Robbing. 



Eobbing should never be tolerated. Not 

 only are great numbers of bees killed but 

 sometimes entire colonies are destroyed, es- 

 pecially nuclei too weak to defend them- 

 selves. No matter what the source of sup- 

 ply, when it is exhausted the robbers will at- 

 tempt to rob out their weak neighbors, and 

 after robbing has once occurred it is much 

 more likely to be repeated. Also, if there 

 are any diseased colonies in the neighbor- 

 hood, these are the very ones that will be 

 most likely to be robbed and thus the dis- 

 ease spread. If it is absolutely necessary 

 to work with bees when they seem inclined 

 to rob, a netting bee-tent should be used, 

 large enough to cover hive and beekeeper. 



To Stop Robbing. 



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 dampened. 



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 

 they would begin robbing another hive. 



When only one colony is doing the rob- 

 bing, perhaps the easiest and best way of 

 meeting the difficulty is to change places 

 with the robbed and the robbing colonies. 



