ROBBING IN THE APIARY 169 



quiet. The robbers come back to the weak colony 

 laden with its own stores and join it and help fight 

 off intruders; while a strong colony of robbers is 

 quite capable of defending itself. 



Another clever trick practised in Europe is to place 

 some disagreeable, strong-smelling substance on the 

 bottom board of the hive that is being robbed; 

 wormwood, musk, carbolised paper, are used for 

 this. The odour disconcerts the robber unless she 

 is lost to all sense of bee decency; and if she does steal 

 honey from such a hive and returns home her doom 

 is sealed; for although in the bee world the way of 

 the transgressor is not always hard, the way of the 

 citizen that smells differently from her sisters leads 

 to her murder and sudden death. 



If a robber colony has almost completed its 

 nefarious work, some people believe that it is best to 

 let it make a clean job, and thus become satisfied 

 there is no more plunder to be had, else the robbers 

 will hunt other hives for depredation. The bee 

 memory seems to be very good, and if the robbers 

 have not cleaned up all the honey which they 

 remember is there, they hunt for it elsewhere. We 

 could never bring ourselves to a frame of mind to 

 pen^Jt this calmly, though it seems like sensible 

 advice. Robbing makes us so indignant that we 

 refuse to allow the spoils to the victor. 



Bees are certainly very clever, and they are able 

 to learn. The old and successful robber soon 

 reasons it out that where the bee-keeper with a 

 smoker belches forth annoying fumes, there are to 



