# How to stop robbing



## RickD (Oct 24, 2010)

I have heard from very reliable 4th generation beeks that you take the tops off all the hives for a couple of hours. Each hive gets so worried about losing their own, that the robbing ceases-they go back to taking care of their own business. Of course, if the robbers are from outside your yard, that is another issue. I have only had your situation happen a few times, and I thought they were a small colony of feral bees trying to thieve...they were fought off. On the other hand, it IS all about survival of the fittest. Anyone else weigh in here?


----------



## spunky (Nov 14, 2006)

I just started open feeding , and it took the pressure off my weak hive, but I only have 2x hives to deal with not 7. Maybe pinch the queen and combine ???


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

First, close it off completely with screen. I've never tried the "wet sheet" method, but that's been touted as a pretty good method of blocking the robbers. After the robbers finally give up and go home, you need to poke a hole in the screen just big enough for one bee to get in and out.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesrobbing.htm


----------



## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

In addition to what Michael Bush said, also move the hive being robbed to a new stand, leaving an empty hive box with one frame of open nectar/honey in it's place as a decoy. The robbing bees won't be as apt to search for the moved hive if you leave a bait decoy in place for them to finish robbing out.


----------



## beesohappy (Jun 3, 2009)

I have the same trouble going on right now with a hive. I went and checked on my hives a couple days ago and found 4 out of 50 were empty and had wax moth damage really bad. I left them open and laid the frames out hoping that some birds would eat them. I think this started the robbing but I'm not sure. There's not much to eat right now and I was planning on open feeding them to focus their attention on plus moving the hive sounds like a good idea tonight. 

P.S. 
This happened before in the spring and I thought it was a swarm trying to take over a hive so I brushed as many bees off the hive as I could and put them into a empty hive body with a frame of caped honey I pulled from another hive. The strange thing is it's now a great hive, tons of bees and honey and filled up two deeps. 

Thank you guys for the great ideas.


I have a couple questions:

I have suppers on right know and was hoping to pull them off to harvest the honey and to treat for mites. Is it safe right now with robbing going on? Should I put Honey b healthy stuff in the feed I use?


----------



## Michael B (Feb 6, 2010)

A simple but effective way is to rip some grass out of the ground and place the clump at the hive entrance held in place by a rock. The hive bees will find a way in and the robbers will give up after awhile. Works good in a pinch since I never bring all the supplies I need to the beeyard.


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

The point is, first you have to stop them or they will not only rob them out, they will kill them and kill the queen. If no bee can get in and come back with a load of honey they will give up. It may take a few hours, but they will. Some will check back now and then, though, hence the need to reduce it down to a "pass at Thermopylae where numbers count for nothing".


----------



## riverbee1 (Jul 2, 2010)

Michael Bush said:


> First, close it off completely with screen. I've never tried the "wet sheet" method, but that's been touted as a pretty good method of blocking the robbers. After the robbers finally give up and go home, you need to poke a hole in the screen just big enough for one bee to get in and out.
> 
> http://www.bushfarms.com/beesrobbing.htm


i have tried the wet sheet method, it does work, HOWEVER, i went to using the screen method, as michael said, it does work well, and i think a little better, a sheet dries out in a few hours, and sometimes not long enough for the robbers to forget and give up, and also who carries a sheet around with them? screen is easier to carry, i put it on with the metal duct tape.
michael is also right about robbing the hive out completely, alot of dead bees, and a dead queen.


----------



## beesohappy (Jun 3, 2009)

Ok guy's Thank you for your help and great ideas. I got a chance tonight to go check if their were any bees worth trying to save. Nope, I split the box apart and looked and saw maybe 20 bees between the two boxes. There were more hanging out on the hive then there were in it. So what to do now with the equipment? I have 45 hives left. I plan on pulling the suppers and reducing the entrances. After that I'm planning on doing a full hive inspection and treat using Apigaurd and Terra Pro. Then I planned on also feeding them to top them off for the year. I have someone counting on me to pollinate his small almond orchard next year and he's needing 42 of them so I have my fingers crossed.

How does this sound?

Mike

P.S. The bees live in French Camp, CA and I live in Stockton, CA. if it matters.


----------



## riverbee1 (Jul 2, 2010)

better to save your equipment than 20 bees, brush them out, close it up, store the equipment if you can. someone in your climate will have to answer the rest of your questions.


----------



## Gypsi (Mar 27, 2011)

Can you take your small hives down to small nucs? Do they still have queens? If not, can you add the bees to another hive? (I'm learning, not a pro)

Gypsi


----------



## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

Late this summer when the main flow was over and before robbing starting getting out of hand, I made sure I had some wet supers and cappings set outside about 75 yards from my hives so that it would distract the robbers. It worked really well, attracted lots of yellow jackets and bald faced hornets too and gave them something to do instead of bothering my hives so much. But now that I have run out of wet supers and cappings I noticed that the yellow jackets and hornets are starting to hang out more around my hives again.


----------



## Gypsi (Mar 27, 2011)

yellow jacket trap time.


----------

