About this Robbing thing...

[Chris M]

Will the robbers ever give up? They have been pestering my hive for a week and a half now. And due to my beeing a newbee, and thus having to overcomplicate the simplest of things [img]smile.gif[/img] , the bees have quite the complicated guantlet to run to get to their entrance now.
Is there anything else I can or should do?

[db_land]

They won't give up if they are having some robing success (like getting some honey/nectar). Best is to reduce the entrance to about 1/2 inch. If your hive can't defend 1/2 inch, then it's very weak (in which case I suggest you relocate it a few miles away from the robbers until it builds up a little).

I grew up in Lexington; attended UK (sure wish you guys would get a good basketball coach - get rid of Tubby).

[Michael Bush]

>Will the robbers ever give up?

If you screen all the entrances to the hive being robbed the robbers will give up.

[FordGuy]

EKU grad here.

[iddee]

Chris, I like to add a frame of honey, open the entrance and let the robbers in. when it is full of bees, I move it over five miles away and have a strong workforce for my nuc. The robbers stay when they can't find their way home and strengthen the nuc.

[Michael Bush]

>Chris, I like to add a frame of honey, open the entrance and let the robbers in. when it is full of bees, I move it over five miles away and have a strong workforce for my nuc. The robbers stay when they can't find their way home and strengthen the nuc.

There's a strategy. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[allrawpaul]

Here is a variation on iddee's strategy; How about putting freshly extracted frames in a hive box with a caged queen inside and bee escapes on the box that lead in. Trap all the robbers inside, then move the hive 5 miles away and let them sit there for a few days until they adopt their new home? you could put a screened bottom on it to prevent overheating. You might end up stealing a lot of bees from your neighbors is the one obvious problem with this plan. In that case, capturing robbers is unethical, so better not do it. It might be better to have a separate, secluded yard for nucs, and to equallize the strength of your other hives.