214 ROBBING. 
weak swarms, as in the confusion incident to the first 
flight they are in less defensible condition, and much 
more likely to attract pillagers than they will be later in 
the season. Let it be understood that all good stocks, 
under ordinary circumstances, will take care of them- 
selves. Nature has provided them with the means of 
defence, with instinct to direct its use. 
INDICATIONS OF ROBBING. 
In order to recognize the first indications of robbing at 
a glance, it will be necessary for the bee-keeper to be able 
to distinguish between old and young bees, and between 
those that are filled with honey and those that are not. 
Each robber, when leaving the hive, instead of flying in 
a direct line to its home, will turn its head towards the 
hive to mark the spot, that it may return for another 
load, in the same manner that bees do when leaving their 
own hive for the first time in the spring. When the 
young bees first leave home, they mark their location in 
the same manner. A few of these begin to hatch very 
early, in all good stocks, often before the weather is warm 
enough for any to leave the hive. These young bees will 
fly out very thickly about the middle of each fair day, or 
a little later. This unusual activity strongly resembles 
the bustle of robbers, and it is difficult to detect the dif- 
ference. Their motions are alike, but there is a little 
difference in color, the young bees being a shade lighter ; 
and the bodies of the robbers, when filled with honey, are 
a little larger. But while one is learning these nice dis- 
tinctions, his bees may be ruined. Bees, when they 
have been stealing honey from a neighboring hive, will 
generally run several inches from the entrance before fly- 
ing; kill some of these; if filled with honey, they are 
robbers ; for it is very suspicious to be filled with honey 
when leaving the hive; or, if there are but few colonies, 
