# Robbery in progress



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>The feeder has sugar water mixed two to one with a little HBH in it.

The HBH is the main cause of the problem.

>Is there any hope or way I can persuade these outside bees to make my hive there new home?

No.

> Another thought is I thought I had treated my hive well enough for mites this fall but with all the outsiders maybe another treatment is in order.

Put a sticky board in or do a sugar roll and see if you do or don't need to do something.

Right now I'd get rid of the HBH syrup, fill the feeder with straight unsecented sugar water (after washing it out well), reduce the entrance to just big enough for a few bees to get in and out, or, for one day, just close off the hive altogether and then reduce it to just big enough for a few bees.

From my experience, the HBH attracts robbers like crazy.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I took some pictues of one of my robber screens. These are made from a Brushy Mt. "Front Door" and are made for a standard hive, but the concept would be the same if you wanted to build one for a top bar hive. You need a bit of a maze and a screened in area to confuse the robbers who are going by smell and not the residents who will remember how they got out.

Here's the side that goes to the hive:
http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bush/images/RobberScreenHiveSide.JPG 

And the side that faces out from the hive:
http://incolor.inetnebr.com/bush/images/RobberScreenOutside.JPG 

It seems to help a lot on the hives being robbed. But I'd still stop using the HBH on the hives being robbed.



[This message has been edited by Michael Bush (edited October 06, 2004).]


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## moonshade0227 (May 16, 2016)

I know this is an old thread but I feel I have to share my observation about vitamin B's(main ingredient of HBH) power on attracting robbers.

I have a nuc on my 2nd floor deck. When it is feeded by syrup with vitamin B (crushed vitamin B pills), robbers go crazy. One day I thought bees may be attracted by the smell of vitamin B. I stopped adding vitamin B and no robbers again.

Other hives on the ground surrounded by bushes do not share the same problem. I think it is because of the bushes covers the smell well.


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## dynemd (Aug 27, 2013)

Honey Bee Healthy has sugar, Lecithin, spearmint and lemongrass oils and sodium laurel sulfate. They rob it because it smells.


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