How long can I leave a hive shut up?

[patl]

Hi,
One of my hives with 2 supers appears to be being robbed as does a new 3 frame poly nuc that has just (this morning) had a new travelled queen introduced to it. This evening ( possibly later than ideal, I didn't recognise what I was seeing initially) I finally shut both entrances with 3mm mesh and I'm wondering how long I can leave them shut in to try and get the robbers to lose interest. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Pat.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Has the nuc been made up from the hive with two supers, and are you feeding the nuc with syrup?

 

[patl]

Has the nuc been made up from the hive with two supers, and are you feeding the nuc with syrup?

No, the nuc was made up from another hive. And I have fed the nuc because I figured although I gave them a frame of stores, with only house bees they might need some help. The hive that I made the nuc from appears to be untouched by the robbers so far but I'll be keeping an eye on it.

 

[Smorning]

It's hard to deter robbers when they start, closing down the entrance can help as there is less space to defend but once robbers get in this is unlikely to stop repeat visits. Obscuring the entrance works for a bit and if robbers are in your apiary transposing boxes can help. In the hot weather I would not close entrance for more than a day or so or you will have other problems. Weak hives are susceptible to robbing especially now so you have a problem as robbing once started can be very difficult to stop.

 

[patl]

As far as the nuc is concerned, it is very weak, so understandable, the full hive I have a feeling has been being robbed for a little while though and is an otherwise strong hive, but doesn't seem to be protecting itself, at least not for other bees, it's guarding behaviour concerning humans however is total the full hive has also had grass and Perspex in front of the single bee space entrance for a few days now with little effect.
based on watching and dusting with flour it doesn't appear that the robbers are coming from my apiary.
Oh and I forgot to mention, both hives are on omf.

 

[YorkshireBees]

It may not help but my advice would be to move any hives being robbed to another apiary. As others have said once robbing sets in it is very hard to stop again.

 

[Arfermo]

dusting with flour.

Self-raising? Why flour anyway? What is that supposed to do?

 

[patl]

Sadly, I don't have access to an out apiary so that's out as an option unfortunately.

 

[patl]

Self-raising? Why flour anyway? What is that supposed to do?

I figured flour rather than icing sugar because I didn't really want to scatter sugar in the apiary, particularly with robbing going on.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Self-raising? Why flour anyway? What is that supposed to do?

Marks the robbers so if bees covered in flour are entering another hive you know which are the culprits.

 

[mazzamazda]

I accidentally shut up a hive (put brood box on a floor on upside down) for 18 days in 30-40o full sun, they were fine. I wouldn't suggest much longer though.

 

[preyingmantos]

mine cooked in 20c day temps in less than a week. Big colony and a bigger mess to clean up

 

[beeno]

Hi Patl,
Can you describe why you think that they are being robbed, as you state 'appears to being robbed'. I have found that sometimes it looks as if a hive is being robbed, but on closer inspection they are not.

 

[patl]

Well, although I wasn't seeing much fighting, I was seeing side to side movement outside the hive, a sudden increase in activity, a lot of the exiting bees dipping as they leave the landing board and there was a lot of activity late in the day after all the other hives had gone quiet for the night. Coupled with that there's been a lot more aggression and 'active' guarding lately.

Well, I wasn't comfortable locking them in for more than 24 hours. I went over tonight and for the first time for a while, the apiary was quiet, it made a nice change. I've now swapped the mesh covers for a 'robber board' of mesh with an entrance at the side of the hive, we'll see what it looks like tomorrow morning.

 

[td4bees]

robbing

Hi,
One of my hives with 2 supers appears to be being robbed as does a new 3 frame poly nuc that has just (this morning) had a new travelled queen introduced to it. This evening ( possibly later than ideal, I didn't recognise what I was seeing initially) I finally shut both entrances with 3mm mesh and I'm wondering how long I can leave them shut in to try and get the robbers to lose interest. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Pat.

dust all the bee's at the hive that you think is being robed with icing sugar, then watch the other hives to see if they go back to them.

 

[patl]

I did try dusting with flour as I figured scattering sugar when there was robbing going on wouldn't necessarily help. I didn't see any of the robbers going into my hives though so I figure they're coming from further afield

 

[beeno]

Hi patl,
Usually robbing occurs within the apiary, unless you have another beek close by. If you have closed down the hive to stop robbers going in/out and there aren't any, your bees will be panicking as they cannot get in/out quick enough. They are vulnerable at the entrance and being fully loaded less agile. My bees are currently guarding their entrances more to protect their stores. Not all the colonies in my apiary have the same level of activity either, as some recent swarms are still building up numbers. Try to determine whether they are flying off in different directions i.e. to forage or are they flying in one direction i.e. making a bee line for their home with the loot.

 

[YorkshireBees]

Well, although I wasn't seeing much fighting, I was seeing side to side movement outside the hive, a sudden increase in activity....

Is it not normal orientation flights??

... a lot of the exiting bees dipping as they leave the landing board ...

Not sure about dipping when they leave the landing board?

.. and there was a lot of activity late in the day after all the other hives had gone quiet for the night. Coupled with that there's been a lot more aggression and 'active' guarding lately...

Honestly, all my hives (colonies) seem to have their activity cycles (in terms of orientation flights or even foraging) at different levels at different times of the day!
In terms of guarding or aggression (as you refer to it) Yes they may well be trying harder to defend their stores at this time of year in general. I personally found every hives I opened the other day quite mild tempered despite everything from wasps to bumblebees trying their luck as I inspected!

I would question again if the hive is really being robbed when there is no obvious flighting at the entrance??

 

[patl]

Is it not normal orientation flights??

I've always been led to believe orientation tended to happen in the afternoon, surely 7-8 oclock at night is a bit late isn't it?

In terms of guarding or aggression (as you refer to it) Yes they may well be trying harder to defend their stores at this time of year in general. I personally found every hives I opened the other day quite mild tempered despite everything from wasps to bumblebees trying their luck as I inspected!

I have no problem with guarding, I fully expect to be told where to go at this time of year when I go near a hive. But when people are being are being butted and stung 20-30m from the apiary even though none of the hives have been disturbed for a week or so, that's when it becomes aggression to me. Since the behaviour is unusual for these bees, I'm inclined to put it down to something out of the ordinary, you're right, it does seem strange that there is little fighting, but I'm at a loss to see what else may have changed.

 

[BeeJayBee]

... when people are being are being butted and stung 20-30m from the apiary even though none of the hives have been disturbed for a week or so, that's when it becomes aggression to me. Since the behaviour is unusual for these bees, I'm inclined to put it down to something out of the ordinary, ...

Probably unlikely, because you'll already have checked, but is this colony queenright?