# My PSA for 1st years....



## kaizen (Mar 20, 2015)

My area is officially in a dearth. Looking at the posts across the plains states and northeast it seems most of them are as well. So this weekend reduce the entrance and put on robber screens. Doesn't need to be fancy. you can roll a piece of 1/8 inch hardware cloth around a sharpie then fold the ends back and staple to the hive body and bottom board. 
Its only a matter of time if this weather keeps up. oh and full suits and smoke highly recommended. The rules have changed till the fall flow. stay safe.


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

a 1 inch wide #8 hardware cloth folded in 1/2 like a vee works without staples


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## Gumpy (Mar 30, 2016)

Some up close photos would be nice if possible. Not sure I fully understand the concept and various designs.


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## Steve in PA (Jan 26, 2015)

I use a modified version of the UC Davis one on my NUCs. I just wrapped the screen around the edge and stapled it. Seems to work well but I'll have a full verdict in the fall.

http://ucanr.org/sites/entomology/files/147611.pdf


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## adg72484 (Nov 22, 2015)

Gumpy said:


> Some up close photos would be nice if possible. Not sure I fully understand the concept and various designs.


Agreed. Lets see some photos of screens in action. I have the #8 hardware cloth just want to figure out a design to make. Is robbing a problem between two neighboring hives right next to each other? One is definitely weaker than the other. Very surprised my 3lb package has out preformed the Nuc I bought at the same time.


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## Schultz (Mar 9, 2015)

Thank you for the warning.


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## Fivej (Apr 4, 2016)

I use a version of the UC Davis robber screen. It seems to work well; however I have had a lot of active robbing so I modified it to close up the top when it is being robbed. I plan on doing a more permanent fix/redesign this winter to make it easier to close up or just reduce. I like the open top because they just drop right in. I will post pics when I come up with my new design.


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## kaizen (Mar 20, 2015)

Here you go. with wood.......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi--pJsee30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzE_-I3ul1Q

Like I described
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueIZjrgpbAc

Like Sakhoney described. Its 4th pic from the bottom on this page covering a hole. imagine if it was the width of you opening and you squeeze it just enough to friction fit against the bottom edge of the box and the entrance board. http://www.tsbeeshoney.com/ts-bees-blog/category/treatments


its easiest to use these if you fill the left and right of the opening with wood and have the screen in the middle of the box. reduce the entrance in other words. the first video gives the theory behind it nicely.
I think robbing can happen at any time to any hive. Even if its not successful you still lose bees. of course the weakest are the most vulnerable but my biggest hive had an incident in the last day. at least 500 bees on the ground. So I added screens to all my hives and nucs. on both sides of this hive are two dinky nucs with maybe 2 frames of bees and 2 of honey. yet they went after this large hive. Remember during a dearth bees will venture farther then before. So you could have been fine all summer but now that monster feral hive 2 miles away in a tree have to go outside of the area they have been in all summer.


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## lemmje (Feb 23, 2015)

Think of a robber screen simply as a displaced entrance. These i made up last year during the dearth. The funny thing is that even when every thing calms down and i took them off, the bees that lived there would still land on the side of the hive and walk to the entrance.


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## NewbeeInNH (Jul 10, 2012)

kaizen said:


> Here you go. with wood.......
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi--pJsee30


I really like that one.

A couple summers ago I had to whip up a couple of these in an emergency, just used spare wood and screen from a prior package bee container. Left a gap maybe 2" long at the top for the home bees to get in and out, I didn't leave the whole top open. If I can do it, anyone can do it. 

Then I bought some nice robber/moving screens from Brushy Mtn. and those are like Cadillacs compared to my Pintos. Haven't had to use them this summer tho.


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## Jim_in_PA (May 17, 2016)

This is the design I went with for our colonies...


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

PSA?


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## Jim_in_PA (May 17, 2016)

beemandan said:


> PSA?


"Public Service Announcement"


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## kaizen (Mar 20, 2015)

beemandan said:


> PSA?


I was going to give you some gripe for not knowing that but I googled it and its not even on the first page of results. eek does this mean i'm old????


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

kaizen said:


> eek does this mean i'm old????


Probably not. My first thought was that you had some sort of prostate problem....which would be the first thought of an old timer.


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## Steve in PA (Jan 26, 2015)

This is my lazy version of the UC Davis screen. The bees on the front are coming back from their 1st orientation flight. I'm fairly certain they weren't robbers. This is my weakest nuc and it hasn't been robbed out yet.


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