ROBBING IN THE APIARY 165 



in its own colony, and that it has neither love nor 

 devotion to any other colony, nor to bees in general; 

 indeed, quite otherwise. Endowed with an instinct 

 almost fiendish, bees seem to understand when 

 another colony is weak or discouraged, and, there- 

 fore, offers a legitimate field for plunder. Strong 

 colonies are seldom robbed, as they are able to drive 

 out and kill the thieves; but the weak colony is a 

 constant temptation to ill doing, and should be 

 carefully watched and guarded. 



WHEN BEES ROB 



This occurs usually when there is little honey to 

 be found in the field. Satan provides mischief for 

 the idle six feet and four wings quite as efficiently 

 as for hands. At the end of the honey-harvest there 

 may be a general temptation throughout the apiary 

 to break open vaults of precious stores belonging to 

 others, and escape with the contents. At the close 

 of the honey season strong colonies usually have 

 plenty of sentinels to guard the entrance and look 

 after suspicious strangers. Never at any time should 

 honey-comb be left open around the apiary, for 

 it always leads to robbing. It seems to suggest 

 to the bees that honey gathered is a much more 

 desirable product than that worked for in the fields. 



Sometimes when preserving or pickling is going on 

 in the house the bees start to rob the kitchen; and 

 while they may be deterred by screened windows, 

 yet the smell of the sweets may so excite them to 

 desires for forbidden wealth that they seem to become 



