1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



159 



Nevertheless, the editor of a bee 

 periodical often receives enquiries 

 like the following, which is typical 

 of the beginner: 



"I have a neighbor who has a 

 larger number, of colonies than I 

 have and his bees rob mine. What 

 shall I do to prevent it? I tried mov- 

 ing the robbed colony to a new spot, 

 but it does not seem to help matters." 



We have known novices to become 

 angry at their more successful neigh- 

 bors because their bees were being 

 robbed apparently by a joint action 

 of more powerful colonies. Yet, as 

 in the destruction of colonies by the 

 moths, the fault is with the owner of 

 the robbed bees. Here again, we have 

 to repeat Oettl's Golden Rule: "Keep 

 your colonies strong." 



A weak colony is not necessarily 

 in danger of robbing, if the number 

 of combs which the bees have to 

 guard is in proportion to the size of 

 the swarm. If we have small colo- 

 nies, made by the building up of nu- 

 clei, or the hiving of late swarms, 

 we can protect them, or help them 

 to protect themselves, by reducing 

 the number of combs in proportion 

 with the size of the colony and using 

 a dummy to reduce the space. 



It is good policy to strengthen 

 such colonies, as early as convenient, 

 with brood and bees from more pow- 

 erful ones. 



Let us say to the beginner, once for 

 all, that it is a mistake to believe 

 that the different colonies of a large 

 apiary will unite to rob those of a 

 smaller one. But after a colony of 

 bees has lost its courage and has 

 given up defending its stores, the 

 bees of any other colony in the vicin- 

 ity may join the robbers. 



It is very important to avoid rob- 

 bing, not only by reducing the combs 

 of a weak colony to such space as 

 they can easily defend, but also by 

 having each colony supplied with a 

 good queen. The entrances should 

 not be too large, but only of such 

 size as will readily accommodate the 

 passage in and out of the workers. 



Above all things, no honey or 

 sweets should be exposed where they 

 may entice bees to rob, in time of 

 scarcity. Accidentally, a door may 

 remain open in the bee house, or a 

 case of honey may be forgotten 

 where the bees have access to it. As 

 soon as they find the desired sweet, 

 unprotected, they set to work to re- 

 move it to the only safe place they 

 know — their hive. The arrival of 

 loaded bees, to the hive, is at once 

 noticed : whether they have means of 

 telling each other, or whether the 

 odor of the plunder is sufficient. We 

 incline to the first surmise. Bees can 

 tell each other many things, as do the 

 scouts of the swarm who have hunted 

 for a new home. The alarm is soon 

 given to the entire colony and the air 

 becomes filled with hunting workers 

 who are looking for the treasure. 

 Any practical beekeeper can tell, at a 

 glance, when his bees are finding un- 

 expected wealth, as they fly about 

 and hunt in every nook and corner 

 where the least odor attracts them. 



Can we blame them for this? It 

 is their nature to carry home every- 



thing which is undefended. After a 

 little practice, even defended stores 

 will draw them. Do they find that 

 stolen sweets, like stolen kisses, are 

 always sweeter? No, for when there 

 is honey in the fields they are not at- 

 tracted by stored sweets, and seem 

 to prefer the nectar of the blossoms 

 to anything else. Only the inveter- 

 ate, shiny, aged robbers, who have 

 carried on the practice for a number 

 of days, will hesitate between nectar 

 and strong-smelling honey in the 

 combs. 



How to prevent robbing? Never 

 by removing the robbed colony to a 

 n;w spot. It goes without saying 

 that, when you remove a colony to 

 a new spot, you lose its field bees. 

 But you do not lose the robbers, who 

 are here, there and everywhere, 

 ready to enter any crack that will 

 give them a passage. If the robbed 

 colony is worth saving, a very good 

 way is to exchange its location for 

 that of the robbing colony, provided 

 both belong to the same apiary. The 

 robbing colony may be found easily 

 by sprinkling a little flour over the 

 robbers as they emerge from the 

 robbed hive. The behavior of the 

 robbers when their home is suddenly 

 placed in the spot of plunder, is lu- 

 dicrous. They are entirely routed, 

 and when they go back to the old 

 home spot, where they find the 

 robbed colony, they defend it with as 

 much alacrity as they employed in 

 robbing it. 



If the robbers do not belong to the 

 owner of the robbed bees, the safest 

 way is to close the robbed colony and 

 remove it to the cellar, putting an 

 empty hive in its place. The empty 

 hive will serve the purpose of amus- 

 ing the robbers who waste their time 

 hunting through it. Otherwise, they 

 would perhaps try to rob the next 

 colony, especially if they are in great 

 force. 



It is a mistake to handle bees and 

 open hives when robbers are about in 

 any number. If you must do it, then 

 reduce the entrance to a very small 

 space, close the hive as soon as pos- 

 sible and throw fine grass loosely 

 over the entrance. A bunch of grass, 

 through which the bees of the hive 

 must crawl to reach the open air, is 

 soon filled with guards and any rob- 

 ber that comes near, in the hurried, 

 guilty way so common to them, is 

 soon apprehended and taught a les- 

 son. This will do very well, where 

 robbing has just begun. 



If a colony is carried to the cellar 

 to stop robbing, it is important not 

 to have any robber bees in it, for as 

 soon as it is returned to its stand 

 those bees will begin their pillage 

 again. So every robber ought to be 

 liberated before the hive is removed. 

 If it is not very strong in bees, a few 

 young bees from a colony of pure 

 Italian bees may be given it a day or 

 so before it is brought back to the 

 light again. These young bees, who 

 have not been demoralized by the 

 robbers, will usually act as guards 

 when the hive is brought out again, 

 and will do short work with the rob- 

 bers, unless the latter present them- 

 selver in great numbers. 



Take notice, that Italian bees usu- 



ally defend themselves very much 

 better against robbers than either 

 black or hybrids. Being less excit- 

 able, they run about less, and watch 

 more. That quality alone would make 

 Italians worth while. 



Is it necessary to call the attention 

 of the novice to the similarity of ac- 

 tion between the robber bees and the 

 young bees who are taking their first 

 flight out of their home? In both 

 cases they fly about to reconnoiter 

 or recognize the spot. A pious old 

 monk of the past century, the Rev- 

 erend Babaz, called this "making the 

 sign of the cross" in front of the hive, 

 in the case of robber bees, this ac- 

 tion might have been likened to that 

 of the Calabrian brigands, who, be- 

 fore the liberation of Italy, some 75 

 years ago, used to make the sign of 

 the cross to protect themselves 

 against the possible defensive action 

 of the travelers whom they ransomed. 

 The robber bees are heavy with 

 honey, as they fly out of the plun- 

 dered hive, while the young bees tak- 

 ing their first flight are not loaded, 

 and disport themselves with good 

 grace and peace. 



A great incentive to robbing is 

 found in disjointed hives. When top 

 stories and covers have been pried 

 open many times for apiary opera- 

 tion, they finally gape at the corners. 

 This attracts idle bees in times of 

 scarcity. A little clay mixed with 

 water closes such gaps effectively for 

 the time. Personally, we use tele- 

 scoping covers to avoid this annoy- 

 ance. 



"An ounce of prevention is worth 

 a ton of cure." 



About Inspection 



By Charles D. Blaker 



I HAVE read with a great deal of 

 interest the article entitled 

 "Force of Education," appearing 

 in the February issue of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. I do not think that 

 anyone will feel disposed to disagree 

 with Mr. Pellett concerning the im- 

 portance of the educational side of 

 the work of the inspector of apiaries. 

 And perhaps in some cases the in- 

 spector has been given more power 

 than is altogether wise, but when he 

 proposes to "make the office a purely 

 educational one" I must dissent. I 

 maintain that education, as import- 

 ant as it is, is not sufficient. Speak- 

 ing of hog cholera in comparison 

 with foulbrood he says, "that the 

 owner's financial interest in the hogs 

 should be sufficient to give the mat- 

 ter his attention." However true 

 that may be in the case of hog rais- 

 ers we know that very often it is not 

 true in the case of beekeepers. For 

 instance how often we find a man 

 with one or more colonies who is too 

 busy with other matters to give his 

 bees pnper attention, and who 

 would not clean up unless there was 

 a law having teeth in it that compels 

 him to do so. Within a mile of him 

 there may be a beekeeper who has 

 hundreds of colonies of bees. Should 

 we not have a law that would protect 

 the financial interests of a man who 

 has invested hundreds of dollars in 

 bees? 



