[newbee 101]

I have seen bees crawling out of the entrance and up the front of the hive. From there they fly away. Are these looters loaded up with honey? I thought I might have read that in a beginners book. I have not seen any actual fighting going on, just alot of hovering bees in front.

 

[Robert Hawkins]

Good eyeballs newbee. That's the first thing to look for in robbing. No other bee should be so loaded down that he needs to walk up the side for a takeoff. Check and see if they have some storage. If they have honey/nectar in plenty then the robbing is not an emergency. Maybe consider requeening. If they have no stores, try an entrance reducer.

Hawk

 

[carbide]

Is there a lot of traffic in and out of the entrance? If so, it may just be that the outgoing bees are climbing up the front of the hive to take off from a little less crowded area. I've seen this a lot when the entrance is really busy.

 

[Michael Bush]

I'd also look for wrestling on the landing board (if there IS then it's robbing, if there isn't it still might be). Look for hovering and searching the hive. Robbers tend to hover around the hive a lot. Don't confuse the short term hovering of orienation flights. The robbers are relentless and will do this from daylight to dark. The young bees will do it for an hour or two in the heat of the afternoon.