Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => General Beekeeping => Topic started by: lazy shooter on September 23, 2014, 11:25:55 pm
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I am about to order some robber screens. They will be kept for an emergency robbing situations and to move hives. Obviously, I am thinking of the commercial robbing screens that can be closed off for hive moving.
My question is: If I want to install the robber screen as a moving device, what time of the day should it be attached to the front of the hive? Will the forager bees that are working the fields be able to find their way back into the hive? I realize this is probably a no-brainer, but if I was sure of what to do, I wouldn't take up your time with this query.
Thanks for your replies.
Lazy
As a sidebar comment, my West Texas bees have lots of brood and drone comb as of today. I was surprised. A couple of hives had three frames of solid brood. Also, saw some new white, white comb. The kind you see in a flow. I'm a happy camper, and bee keeper, today.
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It sure does matter lazy. Install the robbing screens about an hour after dusk when all or most of the foragers are back home. Then, in the morning when all the foragers come to the porch of the hive, they will find their way out, turn around and re-orient, then fly off to forage. This is the only way they will know which hive they should go back too.
Good idea to have some screens on hand. I just happened to be home a couple of weeks ago and witnessed a full blown robbing. I had one screen, and it worked until I could get the other three purchased. I did have to close up the other three entrances to one bee width tho until I got all three installed
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lazy, some of these screens have different configurations for closing or no option to close, just a few holes drilled in the screen. i make my own and use both. a completely closed screen, and a screen with holes drilled in it (i use primarily for robbing situations). when i move a hive i like to use a screen that is a complete closure. i put them on after dusk when the foragers have all come home and the night before i move the hive. sometimes, and for the most part, what you will encounter during warmer weather, you might have bees hanging out on the front porch, so depending on the amount of bees, you might have to smoke them back into the hive, and then quickly place the screen on. you don't need much, and some bees may take to the air.
when i have put the screens on a little late in the dark, i have used a headlamp on low to see what i am doing, or fired up a coleman lantern and set it off in the distance just enough for me to see, or parked the jeep a distance away, and used the headlights, but not facing the hives.
sometimes i move them right then and there, at night, and sometimes i have moved them the next morning. if i move them at night, i keep the screen on until early morning, then remove it, and leave it propped on or near the landing board of the hive, they orient just fine. if i move them the next morning, i let them settle down a little before removing the screen, and then once again remove the screen and leave it propped on or near the landing board. again, the bees orient just fine.
good luck to you lazy!
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Or you can acquire light by holding a flashlight between your knees like I do :D Actually I like the headlamp idea as well
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the headlamp works great on a low setting....... :yes:
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River and Jen, Thanks for the replies. I thought bees would come to light at night. It seems I have read a horror story about using a flash light on the bees at night. Perhaps I am mistaken, as that seems to more and more be the case.
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Cover the light lens with red cellophane and the bees can't see it.
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I thought bees would come to light at night.
I can verify that.
Where does one get red cellophane these days? Craft store?
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I just keep entrances reduced to 2 bee width except maybe in a major flow which I haven't had since very early spring. My strongest hive has about 5 bees opening, but the rest I keep them tiny. Easier than buying a bunch of robber screens and trying to manipulate around them when I flip boxes etc
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I narrow the entrances on nucs and small hives, but once they are large hives I open the entrances big. I like to be stung, and I want all the girls to have a chance to come out and "get some." :)
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River and Jen, Thanks for the replies. I thought bees would come to light at night. It seems I have read a horror story about using a flash light on the bees at night. Perhaps I am mistaken, as that seems to more and more be the case.
I've heard of folks using a red lens for their lights at night. Supposedly bees can't see red.
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Gypsi- "I just keep entrances reduced to 2 bee width except maybe in a major flow which I haven't had since very early spring. My strongest hive has about 5 bees opening, but the rest I keep them tiny. Easier than buying a bunch of robber screens and trying to manipulate around them when I flip boxes etc
Good idea Gypsi, but I gotta tell ya, when I witnessed the last robbing episode a couple of weeks ago, I put the one robbing screen on the hive being robbed. Then, I set forth to putting the reducers on the other three hives, and the bees were actually pushing the reducers out. So I pushed back with my finger, let go, and they pushed the reducer all the way out. It was Nuts! I called hubby to watch too.
So robbing screens are nice and dependable in my case.
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your reducers are in better shape than mine Jen. You get enough propolis on them, they aren't going anywhere. And I put them on the hive being robbed, then I take windowscreen and staple from box to bottom board at a slope, don't make a bee hole til I am ready. It stops. But I am feeding everybody too