Robbing
Lexikon
Robbing is the term for bees breaking into other colonies to steal their stores.
Robbing is the term for bees breaking into other colonies to steal their stores. It is triggered above all by periods of nectar dearth, for example after the honey harvests in late summer. Small or weakened colonies are usually the ones affected. A vital, queenright colony with a hive entrance sized to its strength, on the other hand, can fend off attacking bees.
A large share of cases can be traced back to the beekeeper. Causes include improper handling of liquid feed, feed and honey combs left standing around, and hives left open for long periods during a nectar dearth. Open combs and drone frames immediately attract foreign bees. The choice of feed also plays a role: liquid feed is more attractive than fondant, and the risk of robbing rises with attractiveness.
Robbing can be recognized by hectic flight activity clearly increased compared with neighbouring colonies, by fighting between guard bees and robber bees, by bees approaching from above or below instead of flying straight to the alighting board, by hive entrances clogged with wax debris, by wings and legs on the floor insert, and by feed cells torn open roughly in the combs.
Prevention is easier than intervention: keep only queenright, vital colonies, always match the size of the hive entrance to colony strength, run young colonies at a separate apiary where possible, use bee escapes at harvest, seal removed combs bee-tight, do not let cappings wax and tools be licked clean outdoors, and keep hives open for as short a time as possible during periods of nectar dearth. There is a second kind of damage that many overlook: robbing spreads pathogens and varroa mites between colonies. Even a freshly treated colony can pick up mites again this way.