Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: GSF on October 28, 2016, 04:05:21 PM

Title: Interesting observation with question
Post by: GSF on October 28, 2016, 04:05:21 PM
I walked over to one of my hives that I had a concern with about being robbed. I noticed a couple of bees fighting but no real signs of robbing. However, I did notice a couple of bees on the entrance fanning.

Then a thought/question came to mind, "Will a robber fan at another hive's entrance to lure in other robbers from it's home hive?"
Title: Re: Interesting observation with question
Post by: PhilK on November 03, 2016, 12:15:25 AM
I don't think so. As far as I know, robber scouts will fly back to their home hives and perform a dance showing the other robbers where the nectar/honey source is, just like they would for foraging nectar.
Title: Re: Interesting observation with question
Post by: BeeMaster2 on November 03, 2016, 01:41:08 AM
I agree.
Robbing is a mass free for all. Are you sure the 2 bees were fighting or was it grooming?
Jim
Title: Re: Interesting observation with question
Post by: Acebird on November 03, 2016, 09:36:08 AM
I think robbers come in like a spitfire and don't touch down until they are inside the hive.  Their goal is to get past the guard bees.  I am sure there are some kamikazes that keep the guards busy while the rest of the robbers just fly right in.