CHAPTER XV 

 ROBBING IN THE APIARY 



A CAUSE OF DEMORALISATION 



The moral law seems to be as potent among the 

 bees as among men, and if the law be broken there 

 is a moral penalty attached. Nothing demon- 

 strates this more fully than robbing in the apiaries, 

 for as soon as it begins utter demoralisation ensues. 

 All legitimate work is stopped, and all the energies 

 of the bees are devoted to ill-gotten gain and in 

 fighting with each other, or attacking anything or 

 anybody that comes near them. One of the signs 

 of this demoralisation is that robbing makes the bees 

 very cross. The experienced bee-keeper can detect 

 robbing by the angry humming which prevades the 

 apiary, which is a sound as different from the 

 ordinary contented hum of the working bee as mar- 

 tial music is from a pastoral symphony. 



WHY BEES ROB 



Bees rob for the very human and natural reason 

 that the stores gathered by the hard work of others 

 are coveted and are more easily stolen than earned by 

 labour. When dealing with bees we must always 

 remember that the interest of the individual centres 

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