Robbing and all that stuff

[DayValleyDahlias]

I have no idea if there is robbing going on, I have never seen robbing...I have read explanations of robbing and do not think my bees are being robbed, hhhmmm...

I watched the entrance of the hive, there was no fighting amounst the bees, I did see one bee attack and rid the entance of a yellow jacket wasp though...and there are bees congregating around the top of the hive encircling the plastic feeder bucket...I do not see any leakage of the syrup...hhhmmm

Ugh...bees are funny little creatures...or perhaps it is me that is silly?

[Brian D. Bray]

Anytime you are using an external feeder you will see bees climbing all over it.  Jar, bucket, or can.  The bees can smell the syrup inside and try to find addition accesses to it.  This is one of the things that sets of robbing.  When feeding externally I have taken to putting out a community feeder to avoid robbing.  It works most of the time.

[Cindi]

Sharon, when your hive is being robbed, you will know exactly what it is.  It is very plain to see, from what you have read, you have been informed, that is good.  When I see robbing (haven't this year), it looks like the bees are having a rumble, they are rolling around fighting each other, like they are grabbing each other, tumbling around.  Very discernable.  Bees really love to protect their hive and man they don't like the robber bee intruders  :-D  Have a wonderful day, this beautiful life.  Cindi

[CBEE]

An odd thing I have noticed when feeding externally is the crazy cork screwing kind of thing they do. It looks like a bee tornado around the hive. I thought they were being robbed the 1st time I saw it but they weren't

[DayValleyDahlias]

Thanks all...

Brian, community feeder? What do you use for that pray tell...

Sharon

[Michael Bush]

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesrobbing.htm

[Brian D. Bray]

>>Brian, community feeder? What do you use for that pray tell...

The same thing I use for internal feeding, a 1 gallon paint can.  I just set it on a board with a couple of sticks to hold it high enough for the bees to get under it.  The best place to put a community feeder so that the bees will go to it and not rob each other is in an orchard, vegetable patch, or flower garden--someplace where the bees are used to going for foraging.   The important thing is that the bees need to think of the community feeder as a nectar source not a feeder.  If the bees have a ready source of nectar/syrup they will not usually resort to robbing.  The community feeder is IMO necessary when you are feeding some hives and not others with an externatal or hive top feeder that has a tendency to draw bees from other hives.

[TwT]

I have a friend that cuts 55 gallon drums in half and fills them with feed, puts foam sheet or straw on the feed and lets them go, has feed like this for years, heres a 5 gallon bucket with feed and a foam sheet on it, look at the link below.

http://www.gabeekeeping.com/

[DayValleyDahlias]

Wow, very cool stuff, I had no idea...Imight put a feeder in the dahlia patc and see what happens...thanks