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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



July 5, 1900. 



duce this clover in his neighborhood, if it is not already 

 there, and he will have a plant that never fails (as I know 

 of) to yield nectar, and undoubtedly will have the best and 

 most reliable honey-plant in existence. 



Do not spend money on white Dutch clover, as it is un- 

 reliable, and in some places does not yield at all. It grows 

 everywhere here, but no matter what kind of weather we 

 have it always fails to yield, and the bees seldom visit it. 

 This year there is an unusually large bloom, but not a bee 

 can be seen on the blossoms, and this is after we have had 

 extensive rains. Both white and alsike clover gro%v rank 

 here, but it is all the same as far as honey is concerned. 



I have said nothing of yellow sweet clover excepting as 

 a honey-plant, and this serves only as an introduction to 

 what some one else may say who grows it more extensively 

 for other purposes. Judging from the growth of the plant 

 I should think stock would accept it more readily than the 

 white variety. I hope some one else will tell us more about it. 



Hamilton Co., Ohio. 



[We have a small quantity of the seed of the yellow 

 sweet clover which we offer postpaid at these prices : One 

 pound, $1.00 ; Yz pound, 60 cents. Or, we will send '< pound 

 with the American Bee Journal 1 year for $1.40. — EdiTok.] 



Robbing Among: Bees— Can It Be Prevented ? 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLK. 



A CORRESPONDENT seems to be in a very anxious 

 state of mind, and writes thus: "Is there any such 

 thing as preventing bees from robbing each other in 

 the spring ? If there is, won't you tell us how it can be 

 done? I have had some robbing in my apiary before, but 

 never such persistent attacks as this year, and I fear I shall 

 lose many of my colonies unless something begins to yield 

 honey, or stormy weather occurs so as to keep the bees in 

 the hives for a few days." 



Quinby, in his " Mysteries of Bee-Keeping, " tells us 

 that there is little excuse for having bees robbed by other 

 colonies at any other lime save in early spring, thus admit- 

 ting that even as great a bee-keeper as he was could not 

 fully prevent robbing at this season of the year. And I 

 doubt if that apiarist lives whose patience has not been 

 severely tried at some time in his bee-keeping life in trying 

 to save weaker colonies from being robbed during the 

 spring of the year. 



The first thing to be done by way of preventing rob- 

 bing is to take every precaution against the possibility of 

 robbing occurring. Right here is where the beginner is 

 the most likely to err. Hive-entrances to weak colonies are 

 often left open full width till robbing is started, when they 

 are shut so closely that the colony seeks to escape from their 

 imprisonment, rather than protect their stores. The hives 

 are opened in the middle of warm days, and the frames of 

 honey left exposed so long that robbing gets started before 

 the hive is closed, the bees of the hive often being smoked 

 from fear of stings till confusion so reigns that the bees 

 are in no condition to defend themselves till the robbers 

 have overpowered them. 



Then, hives of honey from which bees have died during 

 the winter are left outside till the bees get to carrying off 

 their contents, when they are suddenly taken away at a 

 time when the bees are fairly crazy for more, and being so 

 suddenly deprived of the "mine" from which to steal, they 

 pounce on unsuspecting colonies in such force that the 

 guards are not able to keep all of them out of the hive, and 

 thus robbing is started where there would have been none 

 had the bee-keeper been very careful to have no exposed 

 sweets about the apiary at any time of the year. 



This matter of not exposing sweets at any time of tlie 

 year\s one which could be profitably dwelt upon for a whole 

 article, but without carrying it further, I wish to say that 

 the first means looking toward the preventing of robbing 

 is, to kno%v the condition of each colony as regards its num- 

 bers before any really warm days come in the spring ; for 

 if any colony is weak in numbers that colony is almost sure 

 to be robbed unless some extra precaution is taken. 



Again, if a colony is queenless in early spring, that 

 colony is almost sure to be robbed; and if robbing is once 

 started on such colonies, a general row may be expected 

 thruout the apiary. I make it a point to look at each colony 

 some cool day in early spring to see how many spaces be- 

 tween the combs they occupy, the number of which is set 

 down where I can .see it at a glance, and the same thing is 



done with every colony before taking it from the cellar. 

 Colonies occupying five spaces or above are called good col- 

 onies, and to such colonies I allow an entrance during the 

 spring months three inches long by three-eighths deep, 

 such entrance being amply sufficient for any colony (till 

 young bees are hatching plentifully) after they have had 

 their first or cleansing flight. A colony occupying only 

 four spaces is given about two inches in length of entrance, 

 while a colony which only occupies three spaces is closed 

 down to an entrance only three- fourths of an inch in length. 

 We read very often of the entrance being contracted so as to 

 admit only one bee at a time, but whoever so contracts will 

 soon find that trouble occurs by way of the dead bees which 

 can not be drawn thru so small a space, thus clogging or 

 stopping the entrance entirely. 



If the cluster in any hive does not occupy three spaces, 

 or these to a sufficient amount so I think it can care for 

 what honey it has in the hive, then all the combs are taken 

 away from it except one of honey and those which have 

 brood in them, inserting a division-board and placing the 

 comb of honey next to the side of the hive, and the comb or 

 combs of brood next this. The division-board is now drawn 

 up next to the comb of brood, while the entrance, of about 

 the size of the smallest given above, is placed at the opposite 

 side of the hive, so that the bees in going out and returning 

 must travel over this vacant space between the division- 

 board and the entrance. Fixt in this way a colony must be 

 so weak that it is good for nothing if it does not protect 

 itself from robbers, unless sweets are exposed so a general 

 pilfering is establisht ; for robber-bees do not like to travel 

 over a long vacant space inside of a hive where they are 

 liable to be seized by a sentinel at any time. Even weak 

 nuclei, when fixt in this way, ate rarely robbed with me, 

 and the more I use it the better I like it. 



If any colony is found queenless supply it with brood 

 from some other colony until you can procure a queen for it, 

 providing it has bees enough to allow it to care for itself. 

 If it does not have plenty of bees, unite it with some small 

 colony having a queen. If thru careless handling, or from 

 any cause, robbing is started, I think the best thing to do 

 first is to throw a sheet over the hive which is being robbed. 

 Leave it for a half an hour, when it is to be suddenly 

 lifted from over the hive so as to let the robbers out which 

 have collected on the underside, and the bees from the col- 

 ony which have been shut out go in. Replace the sheet 

 for another half an hour, when it can be removed and a 

 handful of dry grass or hay put over the entrance, and a 

 handful of wet hay put over this. This will allow them to 

 dwell in peace the rest of the day, as robbers do not like to 

 crawl down thru wet hay, unless there are some coming 

 out loaded with honey all the time, and you have stopt the 

 loads of honey from coming out with the sheet before the 

 hay was put on. 



This course will stop the robbing of any colony that is 

 good for anything where the entrance has been fixt as 

 above; and, with one exception, if a colony will not care 

 for itself the next day after being treated as here given, I 

 would take the combs away from them, allowing the few 

 bees to go with some other colony, rather than to run the 

 risk of having the whole apiary demoralized by the bees 

 taking the honey from the hive at some time when the api- 

 arist was not present. The exception alluded to is where a 

 colony may be very weak, but has a choice queen that we 

 wish to save, but has no place to put her just at this time. 

 Should this be the case, treat the colony to the sheet and 

 hay as given above, and when night comes carry it to the 

 cellar and keep it there till you can use the queen. If you 

 are very anxious to Ijuild the colony up, and it is strong 

 enough to live in the cellar till the outside bees can gather 

 pollen or honey, it may then be set out and given some 

 emerging brood to strengthen it ; for after the bees secure 

 the first pollen or nectar freely, the disposition to rob seems 

 to leave them, very largely. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Bees, and Spraying- Fruit-Bloom with Arsenites. 



BY F. GRSINKR. 



IN the States where bee-keepers are awake to their inter- 

 ests they have, I believe, succeeded in having laws past 

 against spraying fruit-trees while in bloom. This they 

 accomplisht on the mere strength of their /xV/V/' that bees 

 would be and had been poisoned by visiting sprayed bloom. 

 Positive proof that bees were ever poisoned was really lack- 

 ing. But, as Prof. A. J. Cook says, " We spray potato- 

 vines with poison, and the bugs disappear. We did not 



