# Newbie trying to deal with robbing



## Margles (Jul 11, 2016)

Hello all,

I determined that I was having a robbing problem with one of my two hives. The hives are about 18" away from each other and the one being robbed has had a primary and one cast swarm in the past 3 weeks. The other one has the primary swarm in it.

I made a robber screen, but didn't get it put on the hive until a few hours after the bees started flying. Here is a picture of it and I wonder if those of you with more experience than I have will comment on this - are the openings too big? Too small? Should I ALSO put a wet towel over the hive? Will the field bees who were out when I applied this contraption be able to get back in and if they can't what will happen to them?

Secondarily, I think the robbers have spread over to the other hive, as I see some bees working at the cracks between the boxes. I don't see any fighting at the entrance, but I reduced the entrance to about a 2-bee width. Anything else I should do here? I was hoping to discover that it was my own other hive doing to robbing, so at least my own bees would be benefiting from the thievery, but I don't think it is them.....

Thank you for any help.

Margles


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

The field bees will easily figure it out, particularly since it looks like what you've concocted is not a robbing screen as much as a screened entrance reducer since all you done is make it smaller, and did not move the actual entrance to another point. Real robbing pressure needs a displaced-entrance type of screen. There are plans on the inter net, and likely you can screen robbing screens in catalogues on line.

Here's a link to one at Betterbee: http://www.betterbee.com/wooden-hive-kits-10-frame/rs10-robber-screen-wooden.asp

Note the dark section at the upper left. This is the anti-robbing entrance point. The other entrance on the lower right is just a screened entrance reduce/mouseguard.

It's worrisome that your hive had both a primary and cast swarm in the last three weeks (in other words after mid-June.) It may mean you will have to be extra vigilant to get them built up enough to withstand a NH winter. But good for you to have hived the swarm!

Are you feeding? How many frames of brood?

I run with wooden entrance reducers in place virtually all year. On my huge five+ deep hives it is inserted on a slant, but still blocks about 40% of the entrance. In the next week or so all the entrances (top and bottom on each colony) will get robbing screens screwed in place, with the entrances not closed at all at first so they will get oriented to the new positions. Then when robbing pressure ramps up in a month or so, all I have to do is slip the toggles closed to protect them.

Enj.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

The screen looks fine to me. Though a robbing frenzy usually involves more bees...


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## Margles (Jul 11, 2016)

Maybe tonight when everyone has gone in and home, I'll take it off and modify the entrance point. I can see that the upper entrance mystifies lots of bees, but I also see a number of workers with pollen going back and forth outside the screen at the entrance, and I'm assuming they belong here. Then at least tomorrow everyone who wakes up in that hive will have to go out through the maze.

I am worried about the swarming, too. I know the original queen is in the 2nd hive (at least she was when I put the bees in) and I can see that they have built nearly a full box of comb since then. I'm not sure what is happening in the other hive - this one being robbed. I wasn't feeding it because I could see that they had lots of honey and the size of the colony was lots smaller. It seems to have an awful lot of drones, though, and I haven't taken it apart to see what is happening in it because I know the bees have attached the comb from the top box to the tops of the bars in the second box and I hate to have it all come apart since I know so little about what I can see, anyway! I saw a queen in the cast swarm, but I gave that swarm to a friend. I probably should have taken her out and hived those bees into the second hive with their old queen. Regardless, I don't know if there were two queens when the cast swarm left, a capped queen cell that has since produced a new queen who needs to mate, or just no queen at all. The poor remaining bees have had a hard go of it and I'm afraid they might swarm again this weekend - 10 days later - when I can't even be here to catch them. 

I really need a mentor, but everyone around here has Langstroth hives and they are not at all sure what to tell me!

M


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

This time of year I would make sure they don't run out of room nor have too much room and keep them from getting robbed. Swarming is unlikely this time of year if you don't let them run out of room.


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## Margles (Jul 11, 2016)

Thanks, Michael. We just had a big thunderstorm and that hive has lots of clumps of very wet bees on it and on the screen. Should I do anything about them? I'm worried they might belong here.


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## Margles (Jul 11, 2016)

Here is an update: Last night - the same day I first put the robber screen on - after the rain stopped, I went out to check the bees (through the window only) and found my second box of comb basically empty of bees. It is usually so covered that I can barely see the comb. A solid mat of bees were under the hive in the space between the screened bottom board and the cement blocks the hive sits on. It appears that most of the bees that belong in that hive were unable to figure out how to get in before the storm struck. This morning I've taken the robber screen off and simply reduced the entrance to about a 2-bee width. It's still early and I think I will just spend some time watching what is going on today. It's supposed to be a beautiful day and lots of things are in bloom, and if I still think they are being robbed, I'll put the screen on tonight after they are inside.

BTW, Last night I carefully caught 3 clumps of soggy bees about the size of a lemon and put them in a dry box with no frames or comb in it. It appears they hung out on the walls overnight and most of them are flying out and home this morning. I guess they didn't figure out the screen OR the dry hangout area under the SBB.


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## DavidZ (Apr 9, 2016)

the first pic does not look like robbing in the op. typical bee day.
as michael said robbing involves hundreds more. 

seriously I don't think you have a robbing problem with your beehive.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Margles said:


> It appears that most of the bees that belong in that hive were unable to figure out how to get in before the storm struck. This morning I've taken the robber screen off


For robber screens to work you have to put them on and then look away for about a week. Your experience is very typical, and a lot of people just can't stand it - but if you give them the chance they will sort it out in a few days. Most of them will anyway. If it is hot and dearthy, those foragers aren't really doing much anyway so the hive isn't going to suffer because they sleep outside for a few nights.

The very best way to use a robber screen is to apply it either at the time that you first establish the hive, or when you move a hive at least a mile - in both instances the bees will orient to the hive with the robber screen with little or no drama. If you use a robber screen which does not restrict the entrance much you can leave it on pretty much all the time, and thus avoid the problem.


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## Margles (Jul 11, 2016)

I hope I was wrong. As much as I hate that..... 

The picture I posted was to show the screen. I had just installed it, spritzing the bees with sugar water and getting in their faces. Here is a picture of what it looked like a few minutes later. 









Maybe it still wasn't robbing, but there _were _several things going on that I read indicate it; there were 6 or 7 pairs of wrestling bees on the landing board over about 10 minutes. There were no bees going in that hive with pollen, although the other hive had many pollen-laden workers go in during the same time frame. I can't yet distinguish between bees carrying nectar and those not, so I can't testify as to the condition of the bees leaving the hive, but lots of very zippy bees were flying in. There were bees checking all around the hive, including in the back and at the cracks, and when I read Michael Bush's warning about stopping robbing ASAP, I thought I better act first and repent later. I also didn't know what I was looking at until later when I suddenly thought something terrible was happening all because I didn't know what the heck I'm doing!

I don't see those signs today. The comb is covered with bees again, workers are going in and out and the drones are flying today.....

Thank you for your time and information. I appreciate everyone's patience with beginners.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Timing is everything. Bees caught out in a storm or the cold do not usually fair too well. I did not see enough traffic in your first picture to think they were being robbed, but then it was only a still shot so it's hard to say. Orientation is often mistaken for robbing.


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