Being robbed

[Monkey]

I didn't put the roof on straight today after an inspection. I wandered past the hive this evening, expecting all to be quite, but it was mayhem. There were bees trying to get in through the roof, through the OMF, and through the front door. I fixed the roof and reduced the entrance gap.

There is still fighting on the landing board, but the rest seems to have calmed down. I guess as night falls, the robbers will return to their own hive. Can I expect them to return tomorrow? My hive is pretty full, lots of bees, lots of BIAS, had to add a second super today, as the first was almost full.

I know you can never tell with nature, but what chance does the colony have of surviving the attack? Is there any more I can do to help?

Damn, this beekeeping lark is fraught with worries.

 

[Erichalfbee]

They will be back.
Can you move it away?
Otherwise reduce the entrance to one bee space

 

[pargyle]

They will be back.
Can you move it away?
Otherwise reduce the entrance to one bee space

Even a small move (a few feet, or as far as you can, plus point the entrance in a different direction) will help and I'd definitely reduce the entrance right down to one bee space and make a tunnel entrance out of a bit of 15mm plastic pipe and some diuct tape. All this will give the defending hive a better chance ...

Persistent robbing is a double whammy - one hive will lose but at the expense of lots of dead bees from both hives and robbing bees will empty the threatened hive of all its stores in a matter of hours once they get the upper hand.

Of course, if the robbed hive has already been seriously weakened or is a weak colony you may be wasting your time trying to help them ...

 

[Monkey]

Thanks. I did my inspection at 4pm and all was looking ok. I went by again at about 8:30pm and it was all kicking off. I hope I managed to get involved before too much damage has been done. I've already lost one hive this Spring, I don't want to lose my second.

 

[beeno]

Worth a try. Cover hive, bar the entrance with white wet sheet and put Vicks vaporiser above entrance. If you can identify robbing hive, probably your own, shut them in for 24 hrs. Worked for me, but I have only done it once.

 

[Monkey]

Lots of pollen going in and all looks calm. No signs of any fighting at the entrance. This seems too good to be true.

I don't want to open them up for an inspection, as I reckon they will be pretty defensive right now. I guess I'll just have to sit tight and hope.

 

[Millet]

No robbing happens with these entrances i make by bees or wasps, you get the odd one sneaking in but 99% of the time they come out a lot quicker than they go in, and the same with under floor entrances however i have seen wasps go in them but i never see them come back out..

 

[Erichalfbee]

Lots of pollen going in and all looks calm. No signs of any fighting at the entrance. This seems too good to be true.

I don't want to open them up for an inspection, as I reckon they will be pretty defensive right now. I guess I'll just have to sit tight and hope.

Phew!
I once put 2 litre round rapid feeder on a hive and not only did I forget the lid but the eke I used had a hole in it.
Every bee on the planet found it!