ROBBING.
LOSS of stocks by robbing shows carelessness, or lack of knowledge as
to the proper care of bees. Not one strong, healthy stock of bees in
a thousand will be robbed, if proper precaution is taken. During a
copious yield of honey there is very little danger of robbing. When
there is a slack in the yield, the bees will search about for plunder,
and if a weak stock is found they will be very likely to attack it.
It is the duty of every intelligent bee keeper to know the condition of
his stocks at all times, and if from any cause he has a weak stock, be
sure to ascertain the cause of their weakness, and if they are healthy
stocks contract the entrances, in accordance with the number of bees
to pass. But if they are found to be diseased, remove them. The bee,
like the human race, is much better able to defend itself against the
attacks of an enemy when there is but one avenue of approach than if
there are several.
No refuse honey should be placed in the open air, accessible to all the
bees alike, as this would be very likely to create a desire to plunder,
and incite robbing.
Never, when a stock is being robbed, change it from one stand to
another a few rods distant, to prevent robbing; for this is a very
great injury to the stock, as all the bees that have marked the
location (at the season when robbing will most likely occur,) will
return to the old stand, and be lost. The best remedy, or rather
preventative against robbing, is to contract the entrances to the
hive. After bees have once commenced robbing, and have been successful
in capturing and plundering one stock, they will, as soon as they
have secured the honey from that one, attack some other with great
impetuosity. Success in plundering renders them very courageous; but if
you have contracted the entrances as directed, they will be very likely
to meet their match, and learn a good lesson. A little punishment is
necessary to teach them their proper place.
I knew one of these old wise-heads--such a one as spoken of in the
chapter on "Swarming and Hiving"--to use his familiar logic: "What he
didn't know about bees wasn't worth knowing. He didn't want any book
larnin' to know how to keep bees; he had allers kept 'em, and his
father before him." Well, this Mr. Wiseman found, or thought he had
found, that his neighbor's bees were robbing his stock. "Zounds!" says
he "I'll fix 'em!" So he goes early in the morning, before the bees
are flying, and confines his stock, which he thought was being robbed,
by nailing a piece of board closely over each entrance to the hive, so
no bees could pass in or out. About sunrise, or a little later, the
robber bees begin to collect on the front of his hive, seeking to gain
access. He waits until a quart or more have collected, and then he
takes two or three quarts of boiling water, and dashes it upon them.
This he continues through that day, and the next, at intervals, as
often as there are any bees collected on the front of his hive. During
this time he has killed more than a half bushel of bees. The third
day he opens his hive, but to his great surprise, no bees appear, and
on examination he finds the bees all dead. They had suffocated. Want
of air, and the boiling water on the hive, had destroyed them. And to
crown all, and to make his loss still more severe, he found it was his
bees that were engaged in plundering his stock, and his neighbor's bees
had nothing to do with it. The vast number of bees slaughtered with
the hot water, so reduced in numbers several of his stocks, that they
never recovered, but fell prey to the moth-miller that season. And that
was the way he "fixed 'em." There are so many whims and false notions
about bees, that great care should be exercised in adopting plans
recommended by inexperienced bee keepers, or that class who claim to
know everything about bees, yet by their practice show that they know
very little.
There is one other plan, aside from contracting the entrance, which
will prove successful, but which is a little more trouble to apply. If
you find a stock is being robbed, look them over, and be sure that they
have a fertile, healthy queen. If the queen is found to be all right,
but with few bees, take from this hive two comb frames filled with
comb, with no eggs or brood, and go to a populous stock and exchange
these two combs for two others filled with brood. Select such as have
most of the brood sealed over, as you want that which will hatch
the quickest. Put these two combs in the hive that is being robbed,
fasten up the stock by putting wire cloth over the entrances, giving
them air, yet preventing the passage of bees.[5] When you put in the
two frames with brood, if you find but little honey in the hive--not
enough to last the bees a month or more--put in one frame containing
honey. Put on the feeder and carry the hive to a dark and quiet room,
and fill the feeder with pure, soft water. Let the bees remain in this
room four days; then about one hour before sunset, set them on the
old stand, giving them their liberty, with the entrances to the hive
contracted--the lower entrance closed entirely and the upper one half
closed. Intelligent bee keepers will readily understand why this plan
should prove a success. First, the bees that hatch from the brood comb
given the weak stock, will be a great encouragement to the few bees in
the hive; and in a very few days they will aid in defending the hive
against the attacks of robbers. Again--removing the hive from the stand
seems to disorganize the robbers, for after they have visited the stand
for several days, and find no plunder, they will give up the search in
that direction.
[Footnote 5: It is well to confine the bees when a large number of
robbers are inside--a larger number if possible than the swarm itself,
for being confined a few days, they will make that hive their home, and
aid in defending its stores against other robbers with as much energy
as the bees of the original swarm.]
Before taking the trouble to remove a hive as here directed, care
should be taken to be certain that the bees are being robbed. You can
be sure whether it is your own bees or others that are robbing, by
sprinkling them with flour as they come from the hive which you suspect
is being robbed, and watching your other hives, to see if those you
have marked enter them, being very careful that you are not deceived by
the dust from some species of blossoms, which adhere to the body of the
bee, and might be mistaken for the flour.
Bees when plundering a stock will often keep at their work until dark,
some of them being unable to find their hive by reason of the darkness.
Honest workers are not found abroad at that time, and by the way, this
is a very good test of robbing. In concluding this chapter, I advise
again: Know the condition of your stocks at all times. If any have too
few bees, contract the entrances in accordance with that number of bees
to pass. Preventative is much better than cure in this case.
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