Can anyone provide advice on how to help stop honey robbing? I suspect that they have taken at least 60 pounds of honey so far & possibly much more. There is a lot of chaotic flying and a bees fighting each other in and around my hive. I only have one hive, so the robbing bees are not mine.
My hive was very healthy early in the year, but has deteriorated significantly due to small hive beetles and mites. I have been treating with powdered sugar & have made significant progress with the SHV. I think I am also making progress with the mites. I had two deep bodies and two medium supers a couple of weeks ago, but removed the empty super to reduce the size of the hive. I was going to harvest the second super this weekend to further reduce the size of the hive. However, the robbers got to it first!. I reduced the entrance a couple of times yesterday to the point of completely blocking the entrance, but opened it about an inch in the night so that the bees could get out for water, etc. There is still robbing activity.
What should I do to stop the robbing? It looks like I will be feeding this winter.
My hive was very healthy early in the year, but has deteriorated significantly due to small hive beetles and mites. I have been treating with powdered sugar & have made significant progress with the SHV. I think I am also making progress with the mites. I had two deep bodies and two medium supers a couple of weeks ago, but removed the empty super to reduce the size of the hive. I was going to harvest the second super this weekend to further reduce the size of the hive. However, the robbers got to it first!. I reduced the entrance a couple of times yesterday to the point of completely blocking the entrance, but opened it about an inch in the night so that the bees could get out for water, etc. There is still robbing activity.
What should I do to stop the robbing? It looks like I will be feeding this winter.