Robbers

[GRIZZLY]

I've got a letalone neibours bees attempting to rob two small colonies.I've reduced the entrances to about 1/2 inch ,sprayed the robbers with water and still they persist.I can't move the colonies away either.Apart from setting fire to my neibours hive -what to do ?.His bees are about 3/4 mile away. :confused: :confused: :mad:

[Trog]

Are you sure they're his and not ferals?

[Jimbo]

Hi Grizzly,

I remember hearing about somebody who stopped robbing by placing a sheet of glass or a mirror sloping over the hive entrance. The bees in the hive could get out but it confused the robbers. I have never tried it so can say if it would work but may be worth a try.

Jimbo

[Stromnessbees]

Hi Grizzly

You could try the following method:
Take an extra crownboard and fix some mesh over one of the openings. Into the second opening you place a Porter bee escape, fixed on with 2 drawing pins. Turn this crownboard upside down and place it between your broodbox and your floor. Make sure your bees have got food and pollen in the hive and provide ventillation at the top.
Now your bees are locked in and the robbers can get into your hive but they can't get out. They will either be killed or will join your colony.

It should be enough to keep your hive like that for one or two days. When you remove that crownboard make sure that the hive entrance is kept very small.
It might be an idea to restrict liquid feeding to small amounts in the evenings, about as much as they will take overnight.

Best of luck, Doris

[gavin]

Where did you get that idea? It almost makes me wish that my bees were being robbed so that I can try it out!

G.

[Stromnessbees]

Where did you get that ideas? It almost makes me wish that my bees were being robbed so that I can try it out!

G.

I had a small colony last year that got hazzled and tried to find a solution for them. I locked them up for a couple of days and then decided to move them away to the farm, as there are no other bees within miles.

If you would like to start some robbing in your hives, just drizzle some honey around and you'll soon get them going!:cool:

Doris

[gavin]

Your inventiveness knows no bounds. I'm impressed.

I did say 'almost'! But I did have some robbing last year and who knows, maybe they are again now. I'll look on Saturday. I don't think that I possess a working Porter escape though.

[Stromnessbees]

I don't think that I possess a working Porter escape though.

At £1.20 they are just about affordable. Not even I try to make one of them up from what I can find in my kitchen drawers.

D

[Jimbo]

To get your porter escape to work soak it overnight in a solution of caustic soda.

Jimbo

[GRIZZLY]

I've finally got things under control and stopped the robbing.I sprayed the little blighters with about 10 litres of water - they eventually got the message and b------d off back home.I know it wasn't my bees doing the robbing as I marked some of the culprits with white marker and then kept my hive under close scrutiny.No white marked bees to be seen anywhere near.I suspect the cause of the robbing was the two colonies are a bit in shadow in the early morning so don't become realy active until later on .I intend repositiong them later to a lighter less shadowed spot.

[onj]

Please excuse my ignorance, but how do you know when bees are robbers rather than your own bees?

[gavin]

Usually the behaviour at the entrance. Bees looking furtive (!), trying to find a chance to dive in and scramble past the guards. See what happens when they meet one - friendly contact or a roughing up? If you have bees fighting at the entrance then things are really bad. Sometimes the robbed colony doesn't make much of a fuss.

Any fussing around the entrance needs a closer look. It might be the emergence of house bees graduating to flying duties when the sun finally comes out, in season it could be a mating flight of a virgin, or it could be robbing.

If you suspect robbing, shower bees at the entrance with flour from a jar with holes in the lid, then watch to see if they return to any of your other hives (assuming that you have more than one of course).

Didn't spot any robbing at mine at lunchtime, other than a heavy wasp attack on one colony which I'll need to do something about tomorrow.

G.

PS Welcome to the forum Onj!

[Alvearium]

Not so sure about the inverted crown board; put in an entrance block to reduce the entry (obviously); then take some pliable mesh about 3/4 width of hive and 3" wide. longways down the middle shape a 1/2 tunnel perhaps using a bamboo cane as a template. Then pin the mesh over the entrance. The robbers make for the middle entrance but cannot get in and cluster madly around this area. The bees inside come out and walk all the way along the mesh tunnel to either side to get out for their legitimate business and can usually learn their way back in.
Alvearium

[HensandBees]

To get your porter escape to work soak it overnight in a solution of caustic soda.

Jimbo
caustic or washing soda?..... surely there wont be much left of it with the former ?

[HensandBees]

when trying to protect a nuc I sometimes close the entrance down to one bee only by filling the whole of the entrance then pushing a biro outer tube in the middle any stranger trying to get down it will have a nice reception committee at the end .....make sure the choice of biro is wide enough to let a bee all the way down and does nt cause a blockage at the end

[Jon]

Please excuse my ignorance, but how do you know when bees are robbers rather than your own bees?

If you see bees going in with pollen they are the rightful occupants of the hive.
Fighting at the entrance is often a sign of robbing.
Robbing is often sparked off by putting a huge amount of sugar syrup in a small colony which is too weak to defend it.
I have found that fondant is less likely to induce robbing.

All these posts about robbing are making me nervous as I have been away for over two weeks and don't get home until Monday.
I left behind 20 nucs so hopefully most of them will be ok. I put a couple of lbs of fondant on most of them just to be on the safe side.

[Adam]

HensandBees,

You're correct, Washing soda, not caustic.