I am a newbee, and I have a hive of Carniolans. I don’t have a flow hive, just regular 8-frame Langstroths. One deep and one medium super of brood. I’ve had a problem with robber bees for about two weeks now, an after temporarily solving the problem by throwing a wet sheet over the hive, they came back. My bees bravely fought them (and still are), but I don’t want this to cause stress on the hive, which can lead to several other problems.
I installed a robber screen about 4-5 days ago, and my bees found a way out of the hive to go forage, but by the end of the day, they have difficulty finding their way back home. We’ve had some 80 and 90 degree days, and I also saw several bees fanning at the entrance. I have a screened bottom board, but I have a sticky IPM board for varroa. Could that be blocking the airflow in the hive somewhat?
I took off the robber screen this morning, and bees immediately rushed in the hive, many with full pollen baskets, and others I believe were robbers. I’m not sure what to do now to keep the robbers away. Should I just keep experimenting here and there with the robber screen, putting it on some days, and removing it other days?
I took a few minutes this morning to just stare at the activity happening at the entrance. I saw something I had never read about. One bee coming in with pollen pants was…green! All normal colors, for the head and thorax, but the abdomen was lime green! Is that something to be concerned about? (maybe a diseased bee of some sort? Maybe a mutation of a Carniolan?)
Hello Kat and welcome to the forum where you will find lots of help and advice.
You should put some small branches with leaves restricting an approach to the hive entrance, that might give the guard bees a chance to repel the robbing bees.
Apparently the other bees are accepting the green bee as one of their own so just let it do its thing. You have seen something that I haven’t heard of, but bees sometimes do the strangest things. It is likely just a mutation or an Irish bee
Regards
Thanks for posting that Jack. That photo looks like the bee is painted in ‘full gloss’ as only mother nature can do it. Sort of makes our Italians look rather bland, eh…
Thanks for the reply Peter48. I tried stuffing the entrance with leaves and little weeds as tight as I could, and within a few days they were removed, in a little pile in front of the hive.
Yesterday I went back to the hive and saw dozens of bees fanning underneath the hive. I decided to take the sticky board out, to increase the airflow and help them out a bit. Later in the day i barely saw any robbers, and there were fewer fanning bees. Tons of foragers were coming home, heavy with pollen baskets.
I’m thinking this whole situation was just a problem with ventilation in the hive, but there may still be some robbing going on.
Don’t stuff anything into the entrance, place foliage with leaves UP AGAINST the entrance, that is so any robbing bees will have to slow down near the hive to figure out where the entrance is and give the guard bees some extra defenses. Causing a blockage of the entrance will only increase the heat inside the hive. If you are part of the heatwave in the U.S. at the moment then I would remove the board till the weather cools off to something like normal.
Water in a tray placed in the shade near the hive with plenty of floating sticks for the bees to land on and drink water to take back to the hive.
Remove the bottom board if your temps are getting over 95F.
Place foliage against the entrance, it will do no harm leaving it there for a couple of weeks, by then the robbing should have stopped.
Regards
Hi Anton, with no phptos or better, a video clip, we have no way of knowing what you are seeing. Robbing is more normally happening when the is a nectar dearth (no nectar) about so a strong hive will then attack a weaker hive to take the honey. Once it starts it is hard to stop but reducing the hive entrance and hiding it with some compact foliage will be a help. Something to stop the robbing bees just flying straight in at speed so that guard bees and defenders can have a little advantage is better than nothing at all.
Robbing will happen regardless of the weather at the time. It happens because a hive is running short on supplies.
Cheers
Even with pictures it’d be hard to tell. Google “orientation flights robber bees” Anton. Fighting at the entrance is the obvious difference but like all bee things, not always…
If you upload it to youtube first, then post the link here, it works beautifully.
Edit: Oops, typed that before I saw @skeggley’s reply. Sorry skeggs! The forum only seems to accept jpg and png files for uploading. Even doc, pdf and xls are not acceptable.
I always thought of orientation flights as the figure 8 up in the air they do as they are leaving the hive and have seen the mass activity in front and until recently thought it was robbing and took the appropriate measures. Unnecessarily it seems. There was never fighting at the entrance which always confused me.
My biggest question regarding this activity is that if there are Eggs being laid every day then why don’t these orientation flights occur every day? I’ve seen it for a few days in a row, always at the same time, but not every day of the week?
My theory is that they can control the urge for the first flight, the orientation flight, till there is mass of bees ready to use safety in number as a defense.
I have only seen robbing in a nectar dearth and the stores are getting down, or when there is an external hive feeder used on a weak colony.
Cheers
Fighting at the entrance is the obvious difference but like all bee things, not always…
