^ISTD GAZETTE. 



EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WAGNER, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Vol. II. 



FEBItTJAIt^Sr, 1^01=". 



No. 8. 



Bee-Culture in Cottage Hives. 

 No. 8. 



This is so great an evil, so annoying and 

 vexatious, that if itbcfalsthe apiaiy of anovicc, 

 it may thoroughly dissipate his fond visions of 

 ])leasure and profit from bee-culture. It is hence 

 important that he be instructed in advance how 

 to detect it in its incipient stages. If discovered 

 early, it can generally be stopped without diffi- 

 culty; whereas,when it has reached an advanced 

 stage, the ruin of the attacked colony is almost 

 inevitable. 



Every bee goes naturally and instinctively in 

 search of honey, and strives to appropriate it 

 wherever found. The sense of smell is highlj'' 

 developed in all workers, and this conducts 

 them, in poor seasons, when flowers and forage 

 are scarce, to the hives of other colonies than 

 their own. Spring and fall are the seasons 

 when robbing occurs or is to be apprehended; 

 but it is folly to assert that only poor and im- 

 poverished colonies will engage in the nefarious 

 business. On the contrary, strong and well- 

 provided stocks are precisely those most dis- 

 posed and most prompt to commit depredations 

 when occasion offers. The bee-keeper should 

 therelbre be ever watchful, that he may at once 

 interfere and check the evil at its origin; and 

 to aid him we shall endeavor to describe the 

 indications which should arouse his sus- 

 picion. 



At first a few individuals are seen hovering on 

 erratic wing in front of the hive, now timidly 

 approaching the entrance, and anon retreating 

 with switl evolution, and as speedily reappear- 

 ing to renew their prying approaches. While 

 thus engaged, their hinder legs are stretched 

 out at full length rearward, very different from 

 what is seen in the case of returning foragers 

 belonging to tiie hive. The proboscis, too, is 

 remarkably distended, and it would almost 

 seem as if tlicy designed therewith to transfix 

 the vigilant guards at the entrance, as they 

 rush Towards them with a desperate dash for- 

 wards, though wheeling away again with a 

 sudden whirl If there be any crack or crevice 



in the hive, they will sometimes take post 

 there, and strive to work their way in; return- 

 ing to the work, again and again, if driven 

 away. 



So long as only a few such explorers present 

 themselves, their appearance need cause no 

 alarm, though it should always excite suspicion. 

 In spring and fall they arc to be seen in almost 

 every apiary when the weather is mild, and 

 pasturage scarce. But when they come in 

 large and increasing numbers, the affair be- 

 comes more serious; for if the attacked colony 

 does not actively repel them and speedily drive 

 them off, it is either very weak, or has lost its 

 ciueen. 



But at this stage more unmistakable evidence 

 of robbing is usually furnished by the combats 

 betAveen the assailants and the defenders, for 

 even queenless stocks will at first struggle 

 bravely in self-defence, unless there be several 

 entrances or openings by which the robbers can 

 get access to the interior of the hive. But if 

 unable to repulse the repeated and protracted 

 assaults, and the robbers once gain admittance 

 and succeed in carrying off a portion of the 

 coveted spoil, they will rapidly increase in 

 number, coming by troops and squadrons to the 

 fray. The struggle becomes a general melee; 

 the alighting-board is the scene of conflicts 

 fieixe and furious, while the dead and dying strew 

 the ground. 



Even at this stage, the attacked colony, if 

 not queenless, and the mouth of the hive is not 

 large, sometimes, though rarely, succeeds in 

 repulsing the assailants. If it succumbs, the 

 strife gradually ceases, and a continual stream of 

 bees is seen entering and issuing from the hive. 

 Those which leave have their stomach distended 

 with lionej', and generally crawl up the front of 

 the hive or along the alighting-board before 

 they take wing, and their flight is heavy and 

 slugLrish. If the hive be lifted, the bees will be 

 found dispersed through its interior, natives and 

 strangers intermingled, the cells torn open, and 

 the combs bedaubed with honey; fragments of 

 comb and dead bees lie on the bottom-board; 

 and when finally the stores have been plundered 

 and carried off, the victims join their con- 

 querors, and accompany them to their home. 



