ROBBING. 



the robber bees begin to collect on the front of his 

 hive, seeking to gain access. He waits until a 

 quart or more have collected, and then he takes two 

 or three quarts of boiling water, and dashes it upon 

 them. This he continues through that day, and the 

 next, at intervals, as often as there are any bees col- 

 lected on the front of his hive. During this tim» 

 he has killed more than a half bushel of bees. The 

 third day he opens his hive, but to his great surprise, 

 no bees appear, and on examination he finds the 

 bees all dead. They had suffocated. Want of air, 

 and the boiling water on the hive, had destroyed 

 them. And to crown all, and make his loss still 

 more severe, he found it was his bees that were en- 

 gaged in plundering his stock, and his neighbor's 

 bees had nothing to do with it. The vast number 

 ot bees slaughtered with the hot water, so reduced 

 in numbers several of his stocks, that they never re- 

 covered, but fell prey to the moth-miller that season. 

 And that was the way he "fixed 'em." There are 

 so many whims and false notions about bees, that 

 great care should be exercised in adopting plans 

 i-ecommended by inexperienced bee keepers, or that 

 class who claim to know everything about bees, 

 yet by their practice show that they know very lit- 

 tle. 



There is one other plan, aside from contracting 

 the entrance, which will prove successful, but which 

 is a little more trouble to apply. If you find a stock 

 is being robbed, look them over, and be sure that 

 they have a fertile, healthy queen. If the queen is 

 found to be all right, but with few bees, take from 



