Bee-heeping in Victoria. 69 



liomogeneous mass, when it is ready for use; the whole operation havinc; 

 taken but a few minutes. ' The proportion of honey to sugar is as 2 to 5^ 

 or, as given above, 1 oz. honey to 21, icing sugar. It will be found best 

 not to make it in larger quantities in one operation. 



Quite the opposite to the American recipe, there should b© somewhat 

 less &ugar in proportion to honey in summer than in winter. This 

 difference is probably accounted for by the fact that candy her© absorbs 

 moisture from the atmosphere in winter, and gives oflf moisture to the 

 very dry air of our summer — apparently the reverse takes place 



111 



America. 



XVI.— Robber Bees. 



Robber bees are not a different kind or strain of bees, as some bee- 

 keepers assume ; they are merely bees which have discovered that it if 

 easier to carry home honey, the finished product, than to fly long 

 distances to collect the raw material, the nectar of flowers, which, after 

 it is taken into the hive, has to undergo a process of concentration and 

 a chemical change, brought about by the addition of a nitrogenous 

 secretion from the body of the bee. It is the presence in honey of this 

 nitrogenous matter (albumen) which causes the excitement and the 

 inclination to sting when bees find honey somewhere instead of nectar. 

 "WTien the available supply is exhausted, the bees will search near and far 

 for more, and as they are guided by the sense of smell the odour of honey 

 attracts them to the entrances of other hives, or bees nests in trees, and 

 finding some poorly defended stocks they enter and empty the combs of 

 the last drop of honey. Becoming bolder, the robbers next attack 

 stronger colonies, with the result that much fighting takes place, and 

 many bees are lost by stinging. Robbing, as a rule, starts during a 

 dearth of nectar, or a temporary break in the honey flow ; but once bees 

 have been robbing for some time they will continue, even when nectar is 

 plentiful again, and it is about as difficult to cure them of the robbing 

 habit as it is to break a dog of worrying sheep, or a ben of eating eggs. 



Causes of Robbing. 



There are quite a number of causes which develop the robbing habit 

 in bees, the underlying factor in every instance, however, is that the bees 

 find or scent honey instead of nectar. 1. Bees should on no account be 

 allowed access to honey outside their own hive. The decimation of box 

 hive bees over the larger part of Australia during the past 30 years is 

 almost entirely due to the practice of letting the bees clean up rejected 

 combs, sticky boxes, and utensils after the hives have been robbed of 

 their contents. If one of the robbed hives happened to be diseased, 

 raany, or all the colonies, would get a share of the infected honey, while 

 bees from trees or neighbouring farms would also take part, -svith the 

 result that foul brood almost annihilated bees in some districts. 2. Feed- 

 ing bees outside the hives during a dearth of nectar, or, indeed, at any 

 time, is a bad practice, and frequently causes robbing to start. If it is 

 necessary to feed it should he done inside the hive, a proper feeder being 

 used, and sugar syrup given, not honey; the former is just as good as 

 honey, is cheaper, safer, owing to the absence of possible disease germs. 



