ROBBING. 69 
Never, when a stock is being robbed, change it from 
one stand to another a few rods distant, to prevent rob- 
bing ; for this is a very great injury to the stock, as all 
the bees that have marked the location (at the season 
when robbing will most likely occur,) will return to the 
old stand, and be lost. The best remedy, or rather pre- 
ventative against robbing, is to contract the entrances 
to the hive. After bees have once commenced robbing, . 
and have been successful in capturing and plundering 
one stock, they will, as soon as they have secured the 
honey from that one, attack some other with great impet- 
uosity. Success in plundering renders them very cour- 
ageous; but if you have contracted the entrances as 
directed, they will be very likely to meet their match, 
and learn a good lesson. A little punishment is neces- 
sary to teach them their proper. place. 
1 knew one of these old wise-heads—such a one as 
spoken of in the chapter on “Swarming and Hiving”— 
to use his familiar logic: “What he didn’t know about 
bees wasn’t worth knowing. He didn’t want any book 
larnin’ to know how to keep bees; he had allers kept 
"em, and his father before him.” Well, this Mr. Wise- 
man found, or thought he had found, that his neighbor’s 
bees were robbing his stock. ‘“Zounds!” says he “I'll 
fix’em!” So he goes early in the morning, before the 
bees are flying, and confines his stock, which he thought 
was being robbed, by nailing a piece of board closely 
over each entrance to the hive, so no bees could pass in 
or out. About sunrise, or a little later, the robber bees 
