ROBBER BEES 



sugar from the peaches, leaving them as clean 

 as they were before being coated with sugar 

 syrup. The bees could hardly be blamed; if 

 anywhere, the blame rested upon the house- 

 wife for not protecting the fruit with a screen, 

 for common sense would have told her that 

 there must be some bees in the vicinity that 

 would take advantage of their opportunity. 



If the robbing is confined to one or two 

 colonies, it will be a good thing to carry the 

 colonies being robbed into the cellar in the 

 dark, leaving them there until the following 

 afternoon, when they can be set out again, 

 and, with their entrances contracted, the dam- 

 age can be stopped. 



If the robbing is general in the apiary, or 

 even if a single colony is being robbed, it can 

 often be stopped by throwing an armful of 

 brush at the entrance of the hive being robbed, 

 for the robbers are a bit wary about working 

 their way through the tangled mass, as they 

 always want a rapid way of retreat. In this 

 way the colony being robbed will be able to 



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