170 HOW TO KEEP BEES 



be found open hives ready for robbing; such bees 

 will follow the operator from hive to hive, taking their 

 tithe from the helpless colonies. For such robbers as 

 these a way to appease them is a device for letting 

 them rob where they can do little damage. Unsal- 

 able comb partly filled is put in hives or supers 

 piled up. These are ventilated by having a wire 

 screen above, the cover lifted, and the entrance 

 contracted so that only one bee can pass in and out at 

 a time. This keeps the robbers busy and happy 

 and out of the way, and the process is called "slow 

 robbing." 



Some apiarists remove the robbed colony to a cellar 

 for a day or two until it can recover its communal 

 courage. 



BORROWING 



When a colony is queenless, or for some reason has 

 no brood, it often allows the robbers to come and go 

 at will, as if it had found life worthless anyhow, and 

 that there was no use in struggling. It seems 

 possessed of the sort of pessimism which leads to 

 stoic recklessness. This can usually be stopped by 

 giving the plundered colony a queen and brood; as 

 soon as the bees find they have something worth 

 while to live for and fight for they are mightily 

 heartened and offer a brave defence. 



WHAT BECOMES OF THE ROBBED COLONY 



Some of the bees are adaptable, and when they 

 lose courage in defending their own stores they 

 turn about and help carry these stores to the hive of 



