167. Every beekeeper has to learn to know when the bees are likely to rob other hives, to recognize robbing when he sees it, and to learn how to control it. Bees are always looking for an opportunity to rob when little of no nectar is available. Robbing usually starts in a small way, but if not immediately controlled, may quickly increase to a point where every weak colony in the yard may be completely destroyed, and at times, even some of the strong colonies.

168. Bees are not unlike some human beings in that they are given to helping themselves to the gains of others where they find they can do so with impunity. In walking about the apiary the experienced beekeeper can usually spot robber bees before they actually begin any robbing. There is no difference between a robber bee and any other worker bee except that the robber is deliberately out to steal whaetver she can get away with. The robbers in flying about the apiary may come from one or more of your own hives, may come from a neighbor's bees, or even from a distant apiary. Their flight is usually quick and nervous, as though they were attempting to dash into the hive and steal a bit of honey and get away before they were noticed. The bees in any hive that have become located will grapple with a robber, and if not too badly demoralized or overpowered by sheer numbers, will usually defend themselves successfully. Queenless bees or bees near the point of starvation, or those that have been demoralized by too much smoke or bees in colonies badly affected by brood diseases are usually the easiest victims of the robbers.

169. Here are some of the things that you may do to prevent robbing; Avoid dropping any pieces of comb containing honey or honey drippings about the bee yard. Do not long allow a colony to remain queenless. Avoid examining bees when little or no nectar is available in the fields. Always store honey in a room that is bee tight. Take care that supers above a bee escape board are fitted with bee tight covers. During a heavy honey flow the bees will not attempt to rob. A dish containing honey might be exposed in the bee yard for days at a time without the bees paying any attention to it. Let the honey flow slacken or cease and the bees will find this exposed honey very quickly. By following the points outlined, robbing can, for the most part, be eliminated automatically. Even strong colonies should by all means have re-duced entrances when there is no honey flow on. The value of the reduced entrance is that a smaller number of bees can guard the door of the hive and make it increasingly difficult for robbers to succeed.

170. Always unite queenless colonies or requeen them before they become weak. A queenless colony is perhaps the easiest prey to the robbers. If possible plan to handle bees only when the honey flow is on. One of our objects in suggesting that you do as much of your work as possible in late summer or before the end of your main honey flow is because then conditions are ideal and robbing is the exception. If the late summer work is not done at the proper time it is necessary to do it in spring, and this is freqeutnly at a time when there is no nectar coming in, and bees will rob viciously.

171. If you find a colony of bees in your apiary being overpowered we do not advise you to use smoke, as that simply demoralizes the colony further and makes them a still easier prey to the robbers. First of all, reduce the entrance and if this does not succeed it is frequently advisable to throw grass or weeds over the entrance until it is completely hidden, as the robbers will seldom attempt to pass through a barrier of this kind. Sometimes the grass may be removed in a few minutes when the colony has had an opportunity to do away with the bees that have gotten into the hive and regain its morale. Frequently it is advisable to let the grass remain until after sundown. This col-only should be watched closely the next day and the operation repeated if robbing starts again. If the colony is queenless or weak the bees are likely to persist in robbing. Unite it immediately to be done with the trouble. If the colony is not weak enough to warrant uniting, sometimes the robbing may be stopped by moving the hive to a new location, reducing its entrance still further, and setting an empty hive in its place. Some beekeepers go so far as to place a pan with a quantity of sugar syrup in the bottom of the empty hive to allow the robber bees to clean this out, and once they have cleaned it out they often give up their attempts to rob. If the colony that was previously being robbed is normal it can usually be returned to the former stand the next day without further serious trouble.

172. The larvae or "grubs" of bees are subject to two diseases, commonly found widely distributed in this country, namely American foul and European foul brood. The former is spread by robbing and the latter may be too, the bacteria being transmitted in honey. Neither disease has any effect whatever upon humans who eat the honey, but if the colony with American foul brood is robbed of its honey and this honey taken back to other hives and fed the bee larvae, the disease is sure to be transmitted in that way. Therefore, one of the dangers of robbing is the transmission of bees' diseases. Full information on brood diseases of bees may be obtained by writing the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C, for bulletins on American and European foul brood.