I had forgotten just how much I dislike this time of year. With no flow and cut out colonies in the yard in various stages of recovery the inevitable robbing is rearing it's ugly head. Yes, I do have feed available for all that are in need but that just compounds the problem. I'm about ready to pack my strongest colonies off on a vacation for the summer. It's a good thing they are right outside the front door so I can shut it down as it occurs. I got everybody on lock down until they straighten up and fly right.
I can see now that I can't keep on nurse maiding colonies next to boomers so I will be looking for outyards in the future. Anyone got a good patch of sorrel (sourwood) that needs some bees. ;)
Just had a case of robbing myself and we still have flow here. I had moved a box and let the foragers return to a different box in its original place. So the hive has no foragers and apparently not enough guards. I shut down all the entrances to stop the robbing and I'll open it up just a little tomorrow.
David, before you take bees to the mountains looking for sourwood, just make sure you are in bear free country. They are bad in North Georgia this year. Maybe this rain we got this weekend will liven up some weeds but things will dry for the bees this time next month. And feeding the bees this time of the year does make things worse.
I'd like yall's opinion on one thing I've been considering. When the dearth starts, there are issues of strong hives robbing weak hives and also lots of unemployed foragers eating the stores of their own hive. I was thinking that a way to fix both problems would be to move the strongest hives to a different location in the beeyard, and then to put a box with a frame of eggs and some empty frames in place of the original box so the foragers will be concentrated in the new boxes. Then feed just those new boxes.
This should end robbing since the hives with all the foragers are being fed. Also those foragers are no longer eating honey stores. They will be forced to draw new comb and raise a new queen.... or if they fail it's no big loss.
What do you think?
AllenF, the mountains arevti far a push for me right now. I'm looking intoban alternate area. The Pine Mountain/Sprewell Bluff area just looks like it just might have some sorrel up on that ridge. I regularly work the area from Barnesville to Thomaston and that ridge is the closest thing to mountains south of Atlanta.