336 ROBBING. 



the widow and ihe fatherless," and spin, on all sides, their 

 crafty webs to entrap their poorer neighbors, who seldom 

 escape from their toils, until, beggared of all their worldly 

 goods, they resemble the skins and skeletons which line the 

 nest of some vSracious old spider. 



When I have seen a powerful hive, of the kind just de- 

 scribed, condemned in the Fall, by its owner, to the sulphur 

 pit, or deprived unexpectedly of its queen, its own stores 

 plundered, and its combs eaten up by the worms, it has 

 seemed a striking symbol of the destruction denounced 

 against those who make dishonest gains " their hope, and 

 who say unto the fine gold, thou art my confidence." 



To prevent colonies from attempting to rob, they should 

 be examined in the Spring, to ascertain that they have 

 honey, and are in possession of a fertile queen. If they 

 need food they are supplied with it, (see Chapter on Feed- 

 ing,) and if feeble or queenless, they are managed according 

 to the directions already given. Bees seem to have an in- 

 stinctive perception of the condition of feeble colonies, and 

 like the moth, are almost certain to attack such stocks, 

 especially when they have no queen. Hence I usuall)' infer 

 that a colony is queenless, when robbers are constantly at- 

 tempting to force an entrance into it. 



Unless tempted by injudicious management, bees rarely 

 overcome a colony which is in all respects in a healthy 

 slate. Such a colony may be assailed by a few marauders 

 who are ever prowling about in search of spoils, but these 

 bees are glad to escape with their lives, from the resolute 

 defence of a healthy hive. As a queenless colony, or one 

 almost devoured by worms, may be considered, in a state of 

 nature, as of no account, the propensity which leads bees to 

 be ever on the alert to pilfer, may have been given them 

 to prevent any honey from going to waste ! 



