FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 211 



SIGNS OP ROBBING. 



One pretty sure sign of robbing, when there is a good deal 

 of stir at the entrance, is to see bees working frantically to force 

 an entrance undf v the cover or at some other part of the hive. 

 Just why they should do this at times wjien they seem to have 

 plenty of chance to get in at the regular entrance I do not 

 know. It seems to be a way they have. 



A sure sign of robbing is to find the bees entering the hive 

 with empty sacs and coming out with their sacs full. The 

 contents of the sac can be told by killing the bee, pulling it in 

 two, and squei-'iing ou1 the contents of the sac. Indeed, the 

 squeezing is hardly needed. 



BEES STICK TO THE SAME ENTRANCE. 



A glance at the hive shown in Fig. 81 would show that it 

 is a case of robbing, for the flying is at an opening never used 

 for an entrance. It is a somewhat curious fact that bees are 

 very persistent in continuing to use the same place for an 

 entrance. 



After the bees have become used to going in and out al tlie 

 regular place, if I make an opening at the back end of the hive, 

 no matter if it be as large as the front entrance, that back 

 opening will ne\'er be used as an entrance. One would think 

 that young bees taking their first play-spell would be as likely 

 to use the back as the front opening; but when I have had 

 ventilating openings at the backs of the hives I do not remem- 

 ber to have seen bees playing at the back. Perhaps the noise 

 of the regular traffic in front attracts them there. 



LOSING THE ROBBERS. 



I make it a rule to stop operations usually when robbers 

 are very bad, but sometimes it seems necessary to fight it out. 

 I have sometimes taken advantage of the plan of making cross 

 bees or robbers lose themselves or, rather, lose the object they 

 are after by rapidly changing the base of operation. One day at 

 the Wilson apiary I had taken off some wide frames of sections 

 and wanted to take them from the place where they were piled 

 up, so as. to put them on the wagon. The robbers were so fierce 



