It it unusual to see robbing in the winter time?
We've had a warm couple of days and so I put on a pail of sugar syrup. My hive is next to 2 others which are owned by others who are not feeding at this time. I've noticed some bees going at it around the entrances(inner cover, entrance reducer).
Any thoughts? Thanks,
Robbing can take place at anytime that bees can fly. It is less likely during good flows, but can still happen. During warm spells in winter, when they can fly they try and forge for anything that they can use. They also will probe other hives for weakness and ways to get at someone else's stores.
From the end of the late flow until the spring flow, I try to keep ALL the entrances down to 3/4" wide and 3/8" or 1/4" high. This is much more defensible for the small hives and can't handle the traffic of a robbing frenzy by a large hive. If the strong hive can't get back and forth with the honey fast enough, it will slow down robbing a lot.
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