ROBBING 
teet tiie hive better than a whole swarm of 
black bees. 
HOW TO KNOW ROBBER BEES. 
It sometimes puzzles beginners exceed¬ 
ingly to know whether the bees that come 
out are robbers, or ordinary inmates of 
the hive out for a general playspell. There 
are times when a playflight looks very much 
like robbing. See Playflights of Young 
Bees and Drifting. 
When the robber bee approaches a hive, 
it has a sly nervous manner, and flies with 
its legs spread in a rather unusual way, as 
if it wanted to be ready to use its heels as 
well as wings if required. It will move 
cautiously up to the entrance, and quickly 
dodge back as soon as it sees a bee coming 
toward it. If it is promptly grabbed on 
attempting to go in, never fear. When a 
bee goes in and it caniiot be determined 
whether it is a robber 01 not, a close watch 
should be kept on all the bees coming out. 
This is sure way of telling when rob¬ 
bers have got a start, even at its very 
commencement. A bee, in going to the 
fields, comes out leisurely, and takes wing 
with but little trouble, because it has no 
load. Its body is also slim, for it has no 
honey with it. A bee that has stolen a load 
is generally plump and full; and, as it 
comes out it has a hurried and “guilty 
look.” Most of all, it finds it a little diffi¬ 
cult to take wing, as bees ordinarily do, be¬ 
cause of the weight. In Bee-hunting is 
related how a bee, laden with thick undi¬ 
luted honey, would stagger under its load 
before it could take wing for the final trip 
home. The bee, when coming out of the 
hive with honey it has very likely just un¬ 
capped, feels instinctively that it will be 
quite apt to tumble unless able to take 
wing from some elevated position, and 
therefore crawls up the side of the hive 
before launching out. When first taking 
wing it falls a little by the weight of its 
load, before its wings are fully under con¬ 
trol, and therefore, instead of starting out 
as a bee ordinarily does, it takes a down¬ 
ward curve, coming quite near the ground 
before rising safely and surely. With a 
little practice one can tell a robber at first 
glance by its way of coming out of the 
hive and taking wing. 
HOW TO TELL WHERE THE ROBBERS BELONG. 
If one is a bee-hunter he will probably 
line them to their hive without any trouble; 
but if he is not, he can easily find from 
which hive they come by sprinkling them 
with flour as they come out of the hive 
being robbed. Watch should be kept'on 
the other hives, to see where the floured 
bees are going in. If the robbing is con¬ 
fined to one or two colonies, as is often the 
case, they should be put down cellar and 
kept there for several days where they can 
not incite other colonies. Reference will 
be made to this further on. 
ONCE A ROBBER, ALWAYS A ROBBER. 
After bees once get into the fixed habit 
of robbing it is a mistake to let them out 
again; for no sooner are they out than 
they are at their old tricks again. It is 
better to confine them, and then after they 
have been imprisoned' for 24 hours they 
may be brushed down into a box from the 
screen or from whatever portion of the 
building in which they have clustered. 
They should then be carried to an outyard. 
It is not advisable to let them loose again 
in the same yard where they have learned 
their bad tricks of stealing. If allowed 
their liberty they will be continually prowl¬ 
ing around for days to see where they can 
effect an entrance to the honey-house or 
an unguarded hive. It may be cheaper in 
the end to kill them outright, especially if 
there are not more than half a pound of 
bees. If there are many more, it may be 
desirable to save them; but they should 
not he let loose again in the same yard. 
If taken to another yard they will cause 
no trouble. 
ROBBING OF NUCLEI OR WEAK COLONIES. 
There is another kind of robbing that 
is much more common, and which is apt to 
perplex the beginner more than anything 
else, and that is the onslaughts that are 
often made on weak colonies or those that 
are disinclined to make a defense, especial¬ 
ly if queenless. Nuclei with large entrances 
are especially subject to the attacks of bees 
from strong stocks, and may be cleaned out 
entirely before the apiarist discovers the 
mischief. By that time the whole apiary 
will be in a perfect uproar. As soon as the 
