Robbing bees - video?

[Mellifera Crofter]

Does anybody have a video, or know of a link to a video, showing robbing bees in action?
Kitta

[Poly Hive]

Robbing tends to be more an autumn activity and they "look guilty" once seen always remembered. As for a video, no.

PH

[Dark Bee]

If a hive is opened while it is being robbed, the robbers will be seen getting out of town with alacrity when the crown board is removed. If the hive is removed to another apiary, it is wise to put a broodbox & roof in it's place. This helps prevent the robbers searching and entering another hive. Nucleus hives are usually the most vulnerable, as are weak colonies. It has been argued that robbing is natures way of helping the fittest to survive.

[gavin]

Nice word that, alacrity! The association apiary has a couple of recently dead nucs. A casual look at them shows nothing wrong (other than greater than usual activity) but lift the lid and you get that rapid scarper (another nice word) that DB mentions.

I've seen spring robbing of weak colonies on several occasions. Nice tip to replace the robbed hive with an empty one. I must try that.

There seem to be different types of robbing, that which is overt (the bees doing the robbing behave furtively) and covert or perhaps accepted (where the bees just behave as if they were part of the affected colony). I'm about to get far too anthropomorphic, but if the bees don't even think that they are doing wrong (they think that they belong in both places and are just redistributing stores?), it is very hard to spot.

Right - that should be just as controversial as neonics! Please do shoot me down .....

[Neils]

I thought silent robbing was fairly well accepted?

Not found much on why it happens though.

[gavin]

Yes, but maybe the anthropomorphism was a step too far? Silent robbing, that's the phrase!

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[Neils]

I can't get my head around the notion that they think they're just redistributing stores.

I'm choosing to pretend that I didn't see the bit about them not thinking they're doing anything wrong :D
Vid of Robbing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vOfn2Nj4JY

[gavin]

Sometimes I think it happens between sister colonies, as if the split and the mother colony maintain a link of some kind and bees may owe allegiance more to one or other half. Just a notion, possibly a daft one.

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[Mellifera Crofter]

... The association apiary has a couple of recently dead nucs. A casual look at them shows nothing wrong (other than greater than usual activity) but lift the lid and you get that rapid scarper (another nice word) that DB mentions. ...

There seem to be different types of robbing, that which is overt (the bees doing the robbing behave furtively) and covert ...

Thanks for all the replies. I began to fear that I might have started to crow in delight too early about finding the hive I thought was dead, to be alive (http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/showthread.php?1162-Any-casualties-yet/page5) - and from what Gavin said, that might be the case. I tried to figure out what I'm seeing - but I suppose, if there's no residents left in the hives, the bees don't have to be furtive (they're covert), so I might not be able to recognise it as robbing behaviour. I suppose I'll only know when I've opened the hive.

Thanks also for the video, Neil. The same woman also posted a video showing bees on orientation flights - nice comparison between the two behaviours.
Kitta

[Neils]

Sometimes I think it happens between sister colonies, as if the split and the mother colony maintain a link of some kind and bees may owe allegiance more to one or other half. Just a notion, possibly a daft one.

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That was about the only sensible reason I could come up with and I did stumble across a video where the guy posting was convinced that the bees doing the robbing had swarmed a few days ago and were back to rob out the hive.

[GRIZZLY]

Looks like a good case of needing heavy spraying with water to cool down the enthusiasm. The robbers get the message eventually and abandon their activities.

[Dark Bee]

Yes, but maybe the anthropomorphism was a step too far? Silent robbing, that's the phrase!

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I know of two colonies which were kept on the same stand, facing in the same direction and perhaps 2' 0" or so apart. One colony was developing well, but the other was, if anything dwindling. One afternoon at the end of a flow there was clear evidence of robbing, inspection showed that the weak hive, which had a few frames of bees now had none except robbers. The following day, the strong hive was bursting with bees but no honey and only one bee (carrot tail) remained in the other hive. :rolleyes:

[Bumble]

If the (robbed) hive is removed to another apiary, it is wise to put a broodbox & roof in it's place. This helps prevent the robbers searching and entering another hive. How long would it take the robbers to know it isn't worth the effort?

[Dark Bee]

How long would it take the robbers to know it isn't worth the effort?

If a wet frame or two is left in the "replacement" hive, when these have been cleaned, the hive is in effect robbed out and the robbers normally do not search further. Robbing can occur anytime bees are able to fly, but as somebody said earlier, it is especially common in the Autumn i.e. when the flows have come to a stop. Nucleus hives are vulnerable and one of the reasons is having adult field/flying bees in the "mix". When these get out and return to the parent hive they soon spread the word of where honey and syrup can be had for the taking! Incidentally there is a line of thought which suggests that it is the robbers and not the victims which should be moved to a distant apiary. :cool:

[Neils]

Agree with dark bee about leaving a little something on the site of the robbed hive for the robbers to find and clean up. It also works if you've inadvertently left honey supers open, if you give them something to find and finish they won't continue to look for what they're expecting to find.

Getting a hosepipe or sprinkler out to simulate rain is a common trick to stop robbing as is simply swapping the robbing and robbed hives over.

[edit] clarification.

[wee willy]

Getting a hosepipe or sprinkler out to simulate rain is a common trick to stop robbing as is simply the robbing and robbed hives over.
I'm a little confused. Do you mean sprinkling both hives or as I suspect; swapping hive positions of the robbed and robbers?
Swapping hives, can only work if the source of the robbers is known !
WW


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[Neils]

Oops, my bad typing.

Hosepipe/sprinkler is supposed to simulate rain and get bees back in their respective hives.

Swapping the hives over does, as you say, assume that the robbers are coming from the same apiary and you can identify which hive they're coming from. A mark I handful of icing sugar or two applied judiciously at the entrance can help identify robbing bees returning to their hive.