116 KOBBING. 



tion can be made on some cool morning, by turning the 

 hive bottom up, and allowing the sun to shine among the 

 combs. The number of inhabitants is thus easily seen. 

 'When weak, close the entrance till there is just room for 

 one bee to pass at once. 



WHEN TO LOOK OUT FOR BOBBEKS. 



A little after noon, on the first pleasant day, at any time 

 before honey is obtained plentifully, look out for robbers. 

 To get to robbing, bees must be first tempted, and render- 

 ed furious. A dish of refuse honey left near them is some- 

 times sufficient to set them at work ; also an insufficient 

 supply, when fed. After they have once commenced, it 

 takes an astonishing quantity to satiate their appetite. 

 They seem to be perfectly intoxicated, and reckless of 

 danger, venturing into certain destruction. I have known 

 a few instances where good colonies were so reduced by 

 fighting while, robbing, that they in turn fell a prey to 

 similar marauders. 



I have for several years kept hundreds of stocks away 

 from home, where I could seldom see them. Yet I seldom 

 lose a stock by robbing. I simply keep the entrance closed, 

 leaving, during spring, a passage for the bees at work. It 

 is true, I have lost a fevr, when the other bees took the 

 honey, but they would have been lost in any case. A 

 great many apiarians raise their hives an inch from the 

 board, early in spring. " They seem to disregard the op- 

 portunity it gives robbers to enter on every side. It is 

 like setting the door of your dwelling open, to tempt the 

 thief, and then complaining of the consequences. 



Let it be understood, then, that all good stocks, under 

 ordinary circumstances, will take care of themselves; 

 Nature has provided means of defence, with instinct to 

 direct its use. Non-resistance may do for highly cultivat- 

 ed intellect in man, but not here. There is a prevalent 



