HOW TO KEEP BEES FOR PROFIT 



without any precaution whatever; but as 

 soon as the flow ceases the little rascals are 

 ready to gobble anything at hand, urged 

 thereto no doubt by the fact that they are in a 

 state of enforced idleness and want to lay up 

 as much honey for wintering as possible. 



Until a case of robbing is well under way, 

 it will often be diflScult for the novice to detect 

 it, as the little thieves will act in many ways 

 similar to young bees taking a play spell 

 flying before their hives ; but when the thing is 

 in full operation, it is easy to recognize it at 

 once, as the hive being robbed will have a 

 large number of bees busily flying before it 

 like a new swarm coming out, and the terrific 

 fight going on on its alighting-board with the 

 dead bees that have been killed in the fight- 

 ing — often as many as a quart — will tell 

 its own tale even to the novice. 



Another method of detecting robbing is to 

 watch the actions of the bees coming out of 

 the hive suspected of being robbed; as the 

 robber comes out it does not act in the 



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