Robbing with close hives

[Aisha]

I plan to add another hive on my 12' x 14' balcony this spring.

There have been a few threads recently about how close the hives can be. The answer is very close!

My question is: if I am inspecting a hive that is 3 feet away from another one, how do I prevent the other hive from a robbing marathon on the open supers, where chaos ensues?

What do you beeks do with hives side by side during inspections to prevent robbing?

[Robert Hawkins]

Smoke

Hawk

[tecumseh]

of course robbing is not always such a concern and is most likely to be sporadic and not very predictable. if you have several hives with few 'others' in the area then simply pop the lids on all the hives when you suspect robbing will be a problem. this should make all the hives shift into a defensive mode and not be so tempted to begin robbing.

[tecumseh]

I realized I had possible painted a slight misperception... me bad!

you can also do the 'remove cover' process after robbing has begun although it may require 5 to 10 minutes for the robbers to settle back down again.

[Ski]

They make canvas covers to put over the open hive or removed box. I have seen them for sale in the bee catalogs. But I would think any type of cover would be fine. Will post if I can find them again.

This is what I was thinking about. Another cloth may be used to cover other boxes waiting for inspection. Should be easy to make something close, if you find that you need one.

http://www.beeequipment.com/products.asp?pcode=768

Ski

[Brandy]

I would not leave supers exposed. Anytime you would need to remove supers put them on a bottom board with their covers. Use the inner cover to cover what's exposed. Basically don't give the robbers a chance. Once they're filling supers I try not to disturb them too much. Just fill em up.

[Ross]

I have 18 in a row, 3 to an 8 foot stand, sometimes 4. I don't see any real problems with robbing when working the hives, even with the supers exposed top and bottom.

[Troutsqueezer]

I've had four hives 6 inches apart for the last four years. Only once did a robbing situation occur (that I saw) and it wasn't because I was working the hives.

[Ruben]

Mine are close and I don't have any problem, knock on wood.

[Aisha]

They make canvas covers to put over the open hive or removed box. I have seen them for sale in the bee catalogs. But I would think any type of cover would be fine.
Ski

Thanks, Ski! I had seen those many times, but I didn't make the connection that they were to prevent robbing. I thought it was to keep the bees calm and dark.

[Aisha]

of course robbing is not always such a concern and is most likely to be sporadic and not very predictable.

Thanks for the advice, Tecumseh. I had read that before now that I think of it. The consensus seems to be that it's not a huge problem. I guess I had visions of the feeding frenzies I have seen with syrup during a dearth, but I guess that is the exception rather than the rule. And I should just keep the honey protected. There is no reason for a hive to rob another hive's broodnest!

[Jeffrey Todd]

At this time of year there is a good chance robbing will start if any honey exposed (especially if cappings are torn open during inspection). The more hives in close proximity to yours, the worse the problem can be. The best solution is, of course, prevention, and the cloth cover is a good idea. You can also use anything that effectively covers the exposed portions of the supers or hive. If you notice the beginnings of frantic activity you can nip it in the bud by closing things up and reducing your entrance(s) temporarily.
At other times of the year you can practically leave a super of honey out all day and bees will ignore it. Hopefully there is enough blooming nearby your location to keep the bees' attention somewhere else.
Hope you have a good season, Aisha!

[WVbeekeeper]

>I thought it was to keep the bees calm and dark.

That's mostly what they are for, and to keep them from flying out into you face! I have some 12' long I-beams that hold six colonies. I've never had any problems with the bees trying to rob each other when inspecting. Even after extracting honey and putting the super of wet combs back on the colonies I've never had any problems with robbing. The only thing I've had get robbed was a dead out which is to be expected.

[WVbeekeeper]

I like to stack the supers on an empty super and put the lid on the them when I need to remove them to inspect the brood chamber. Bees can't get in or out.