Robbery stopping

[Gypsi]

My little nuc that I requeened in late August has plenty of stores and has always had a robber guard on it, but they can't go in and out their front door.  Still fighting so still bees so still queen.

I have today and tomorrow before the freeze comes back. Considering moving them to the bed of a pickup that doesn't move in the apiary and stealing some nurse bees and brood from the hot hive that keeps robbing them.  About a 20 ft move, pretty sure there aren't any bees out of the nuc anywhere, they are all inside the robber guard defending the hive. Right now I can see. Going to hang a load of laundry and hope for enlightenment by the time I get done.

[Jen]

Can you post a pic of your robber guard?

[Gypsi]

Conveniently located next to the hottest hive out there, note, they have no robber guard and need none. thought about stealing some of their nurse bees and brood when I do the move, going to be 70 here tomorrow

The robber guard has a piece of horizontal 1x2 that sticks into the hive opening, and only a small opening into the hive. False and true top opening on left. My construction

[Jen]

So can your bees get in and out on their own?

[Gypsi]

yes. but the neighboring hive has about figured out how to do it too

[Gypsi]

Moving them 25 miles to a friend's house, having been advised that 20 feet will only cost them their foragers and the robbing hive will find them quickly

[Riverrat]

If its a weak hive no matter where you move them, if there is a hive near by most likely they will be robbed.  Your best defense would be to close off all openings to the hive so you have a single small entrance the bees can defend.

[Jen]

Minnie- yes that works. When I obtained my robbing screen, the instructions made it clear to put the screen on at night when all of the bees were back from foraging. Then, the next morning, they would learn how to get out and get back in. The robber's will hang out at the lower part of the screen in front of the entrance and will not know how to get in. It worked perfectly for me all last summer.

[riverbee]

gypsi, i have found moving nucs to a different location to be of great benefit until they build up enough to take care of themselves.  i have the luxury of a few different places to take them, but usually start out with the smallest entrance (like mm said) on the nuc to guard against any robbery of neighboring bees.  so far, haven't had a problem with neighboring bees when moved. 

a nuc left in my yard for the past 5 or 6 years is sure to get robbed out, so when i make up nucs, they are moved.  like you said, 20 ft is not far enough, 2 to 3 miles would be good, or like what you are doing by moving 25 miles, but also be aware again of any neighboring bees.  good luck to you gypsi, and i hope moving them works for you so they can build up for you.  post an update here after you moved them to let us know how they are doing.

[lazy shooter]

@ gypsi:

"If it wasn't for bad luck, you wouldn't have any luck at all."

I thought that robbing occurred all in a one or two day event.  Do bees just come and take a wee bit of honey over a long period of time?  The videos I have seen of robbing looked like a swarm of bees hovering around the entrance to the hive.  I'm confused over how robbing occurs.  It seems the older I get the confuseder I become.

[Jen]

Awe Lazy, I don't think ya have to get older to be confused by the bee world. 50 years from now when my dimentia kicks in I'll blame it all on the bees.

[apisbees]

Strengthen the nuc so it can defend itself against the stronger hives. go thru the strong hive and find 2 frames of open brood and shake the bees from these frames into the week nuc and add a frame of capped brood with the bees shaken off in less than 10 days the nuc will be turned around and booming. If not there is more wrong in the hive than just being weak. Poor queen, disease, of something. 2 shaken and 1 capped will bolster the population with enough bees to cover an additional 4 frames by the end of 10 days.

[Gypsi]

A truly successful robbery is a 1 or 2 day wipeout, but I build one heck of a robber screen. So the nuc instead of multiplying and going out for pollen sub has been in nonstop defense mode every warm day for a couple of weeks.  I want them to build up numbers. I will be splitting the offending hive when my queens come, they are almost firecracker hot, so for now I moved the nuc to a friend's 25 miles away, they have plenty of stores, a peanutbutter jar pollen sub dispenser hanging in a bush, and chickens for company. Robber screen is still on, and I tagged a fabric scrap over the exit. They were happily reorienting when I left them yesterday.

The drought is my luck source. I bathed my dogs yesterday, you can't see where I wet the yard today, and the dogs came in all dusty.