GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Fig. 6. — Mr. Lewis' ornamental hive. The foun- 

 dation stones came from all over the world. 



have almost no stores. Perhaps their mother 

 queen was old, and unable to perform her 

 duties as she should have done, and the bees 

 failed to replace her at the right time. Or 

 on the other hand, perhaps the colony was 

 a strong breeder, and all available cells 

 were filled with brood, so that most of the 

 surplus honey was consumed for the pur- 

 pose of feeding this brood. Or, again, 

 perhaps the bees Avere short-lived or not 

 diligent, etc. 



Then there are great capitalists among 

 the bees whose storerooms are filled with 

 plenty of honey. Each cell is earefuUv 

 closed with a cover of wax, and only a small 

 number remain open for daily use. These 

 bees go with only the greatest reluctance to 

 ojien their trunks of gold — like the miser 

 wlio turns the dollar in his hand, taking 

 sorrowful leave of it when it goes. But 

 pitiless man demands of these devoted 

 workers a part of their treasure, for well he 

 knows, too, the noble virtues of the fluid 

 gold of the hive. 



How much the love of gold, especially in 

 la.ri summer, domineers the character of the 

 bees, and even misguides them, is shown by 



the following: If we disturb a hive by 

 opening it or by knocking on the side of it, 

 the bees whose honey-sacs are empty hasten 

 to the open cells for filling these honey-sacs, 

 for these latter are the purses of the bees. 

 The bees do not know what the trouble is; 

 but in any event a full purse is a good 

 thing, for if by some unfortunate chance a 

 bee loses its home, and is obliged to go 

 begging a place in another hive, it succeeds 

 by the help of its full purse. The first 

 guard it meets asks its tribute of a minute 

 drop, and this satisfies the rough officer. 



The bees, when preparing themselves for 

 swarming, never fail to fill their pockets 

 with the gold of the hives. If one drops a 

 little honey on the alighting-board the vig- 

 ilant insects gather around, greedily taking 

 it up, and they forget to hear or to see. In 

 this condition they do not resent an intru- 

 sion in front of the hive, as they might 

 under normal circumstances. 



Under these conditions the curse of the 

 gold appears in an ugly form in what are 

 called robber bees. As a rule these are old 

 bees from a neighboring hive, Avhich had 

 discovered that gold obtained by stealing- 

 is more convenient and more quickly se- 

 cured than by honest work in the field. 

 Well aware of their shameful trade they 

 fly cautiously and cunningly around the 

 entrance of the hive they intend to rob. 

 Watching carefully while they keep coming 

 neai'er, they fly back in an instant if a 

 guard in a menacing manner demands the 

 Ijassword. Immediately it comes back again, 

 searching for an unguarded place. If it 

 ventures to enter it may be grasped by one 

 of the giiards; but as soon as it escapes it 

 begins anew its shameless game. After some 

 more fruitless attempts the robber may try 

 another hive in the same manner. If the 

 guards here do not watch carefully it suc- 

 ceeds in gaining a sly entrance, and then 

 proceeds to the first open cell and fills its 

 honey-sac to overflowing. More than half 

 its own weight such a robber may take 

 away. In this connection it has been inter- 

 esting to me to observe that, the shorter the 

 distance the robber has to fly to its own 

 hive, the more honey it will carry. If it 

 comes from a distant hive it may take only 

 half a load. The escape from the hive is 

 generally easy because the guards pay more 

 attention to bees that are entering than they 

 do to those that are going away. There- 

 fore, as quickly as the heavy burden allows, 

 the robber goes to its own hive, where it 

 discharges its stolen load. 



If one bee succeeds in its attempt at 

 robbing, others of the same hive are excited 

 to the point of taking a similar risk, and at 



