Bee Escape: Robbing

[FameFlower]

This is my second year using bee escapes. I have twenty hives / apiary. You have to take off all the suppers to install the bee escape on the inner cover. When I got to the twentieth hive on Monday, the bees in the apiary were only to me. I worked as quickly as possible and put the FOUR capped supers back on the hives.

On Wednesday when I came to collect the mostly bee-free supers. I was horrified to find the supers on the twentieth hive ROBBED. The wax tour to bits and the honey mostly gone. It definitely was NOT in that condition on Monday. There was a pile of bees and wax the inner cover.

I think the robbing started on Monday when the supers were off the hive. When I put it back on the supers contained robbing bees who did their dirty work the next two days. Or maybe their was another entry point, but I didn't see anything (the boxes are tight and the lid was on square). I think this hive recently had an unsuccessful supersedure, which had them in a vulnerable position.

Time to overcome my aversion to chemicals or motorized-things and try chemicals or a bee blower.

[beemandan]

Before small hive beetles (bshb?) I used to carry some sections of 4x4s along with triangle bee escapes when robbing a yard. I’d put a pair of the 4x4s on the ground, an escape next, then remove the supers from the hives and stack on top. When it got high enough I’d put an escape on top and start another stack. When I returned to pick them up the next day, there’d be a boatload of potential robbers trying to get into the stacks but the escapes did their thing.
I don’t know if this method would help or not.
Bee escapes no more here….shb take advantage of the opportunity.

[hipbee]

I bought some bee escapes from brushy mnt this year but they didnt work for me.....it only took my girls 30 mins to figure out how to get back in!

[mike haney]

weather you recognizeed it or not the robbers had an entry-and an exit point.
they dont just empty the combs and sit there till its open, it takes a LOT of robbers a LOT OF TRIPS to empty even one super.
next time if in doubt use some "duct" tape on the seams-and you can be sure.
on my old beat-up boxes the robbers will sometimes even remove duct tape to get in the seams!
thieving italians!

[S.M.N.Bee]

Do your inner covers have a vent knotch. This can be an entry point that can set off robbing in some cases.

John