THE BEEKEEPERS* DIRECTORY, IJt 



rest of their lives, and the sooner they are disposed of the 

 better. If much robbing is going on in the apiary, the thiev- 

 ing colonies should be found and removed to a new location, 

 at least, a mile away. By sprinkling flour on the robber 

 bees as they leave the hive being robbed, they can be easily 

 traced to the stand where they belong. I have often broken 

 up a colony which were robbing by blowing tobacco smoke 

 into their hive. When this is done, care must be taken that 

 the other colonies do not turn to and rob the one that has 

 been fumigated. 



Care should be taken in season to prevent robbing in the 

 apiary. The most danger is during the first few days after 

 the honey flow ceases. The bees at once commence to look 

 around for the weak colonies, or any exposed sweets. Keep 

 all honey out of reach and smell of the bees. Remember 

 that a " stitch in time saves nine." 



Should the bees get into the bee-house, the best plan is to 

 fasten them in. Let them out just before it is too dark for 

 them to find the hive. This will do more towards breaking 

 up robbing than any otRer plan I know of. A few bees will 

 return in the morning, but they will soon become discouraged 

 and give up. 



Best time of day to work on bees. 



In many of the operations described in beekeeping, I have 

 advised doing.the work just before dark. I will give some 

 of the reasons why that time of day is best to operate. 1 . 

 The bees are not as liable to rob as they are earlier in the 

 day. 2. If the combs are slightly broken, or a little honey 

 is dropped upon the ground, it will not set the bees to rob- 

 bing as it would earlier in the day, as the disturbed colony 

 Would be in condition the next morning to defend their combs. 

 3. It is well known that bees keep very quiet in the dark, A 

 colony made queenless in season to miss her just before dark 

 would keep quiet until daylight returns, when they will make 

 a search for her. But after being queenless all night they 

 soon become reconciled and quickly quiet down. No matter 

 what the operation is, the bees need time to recover from it, 

 and when they have the night before them there is no loss of 

 time. 



