Robbing can be a serious issue in apiaries, which can be caused by bees or wasps. I won't deal with robbing by wasps here, other than to say that wasps are much tougher than bees. They fly at lower temperatures and in a one-to-one situation a wasp will be the survivor. I have put a link button to robbing by wasps on the top left. There are two main sorts of robbing by honey bees, "silent robbing" and what I am terming "normal robbing", which is what this page is about.

I will start by saying that, in my opinion, robbing occurs much more in managed colonies that it does in free-living ones. Unless they are collapsing or queenless, free-living colonies are always strong, so are able to defend themselves. They select a home with an entrance small enough to defend, if not, they soon propolise it up to reduce it.

Many of the managed colonies I see that are robbed out are as a result of something the beekeeper has or hasn't done. A vulnerable colony can be robbed out very quickly, so "leaving it until tomorrow" or "I will sort it out when I get home from work" could well be too late.

Some signs of robbing.

• A colony that is under attack will appear to be more active than it previously was, but the activity at the entrance is different. Bees when they are coming back to their own home land on the periphery of the entrance then walk in. Bees that are robbing will dart around at the entrance, then make a dash for it, but straight for the entrance, not landing on the periphery as bees from the colony will.
• Defending bees will become agitated and there will probably be fighting until they are overwhelmed, when they will simply give up.
• If you take the crown board off, robber bees will fly out in a hurry, but not aggressively.
• Capped honey will have the cappings ripped off and the holes will have jagged edges, unlike the regular shape you get when being sealed.
• The robbing colonies will be more active than usual, but there won't be the signs that you get in a robbed colony.

Reducing the chances of robbing.

I have already suggested that robbing is probably the fault of the beekeeper, so prevention is far better than cure. Robbing is usually much more of a problem when there is a nectar dearth, especially when a nectar flow has ceased abruptly, which is more likely with a farmed crop, such as oil seed rape, than wild flowers.

During a heavy nectar flow, I have often left honey, perhaps in a piece of brace comb, on somewhere like the roof of a hive for an hour or two and it hasn't been touched by bees, yet if the same thing is done during a nectar dearth it will be covered in bees in minutes. The point I make is that you need to assess the situation in order to reduce the start of robbing. You may be able to do something and get away with it in a nectar flow, yet if done in a dearth a week or two later will cause havoc.

• Queenless colonies are more vulnerable and lose morale quickly, especially later in the summer, so if you know there is likely to be a nectar dearth be more careful than normal.
• All gaps, other than the entrance, should be closed off or filled in.
• Close the entrance down, so it is easily defendable by the colony.
• Keep colonies strong in bees. I mean the density, not necessarily the number of frames. A 3 comb nuc with frames well covered with bees may be more able to defend the same size entrance than a 7-8 comb colony that has poorly covered frames.
• If you have a small nuc in a larger box make sure the bees are next to the entrance, not towards one side.
• When inspecting colonies, don't take too long and don't put a frame outside the hive. Also make sure that supers are covered up. This is particularly important in a teaching apiary, when you may have hives open longer than normal and you sre concentrating on what you are doing.
• You are most likely to feed during a nectar dearth, so feed at dusk and be careful not to spill syrup. Check that feeders don't leak, by filling with water first.
• When replacing supers after extraction for the bees to clean up, do it at dusk. If you replace them during the day it will create havoc in minutes, even though the wet supers are put on their own hive.
• If you are making up a nucleus from the same apiary, don't feed it for a day or so, otherwise the flying bees will go home and tell the rest where there is some free food - and it won't be defended.

Dealing with robbing.

Remember that if robbing occurs it is most likely to be the beekeepers fault, but if you have a problem you need to deal with it quickly.

Once a colony has started robbing, it is unlikely to stop until it is satisfied that it has finished. Simply removing the source will divert the attention of the robbing colony elsewhere, which could be the least well defended colony. Whatever the source of robbing, whether it is a colony, a feeder or a pile of supers, you will need to remove it quickly, but replace it with a small amount of honey or syrup. A spoonful or two on a plate or saucer will be enough. When the robbing bees have cleared it up they will calm down.

If robbing has only just started and the colony being robbed is strong in bees and queenright, then close the entrances of all colonies up to one bee space. You can put some small branches with leaves on in front of the hive to confuse the robbers. There is a reasonable chance that things will settle down, but keep a close eye on the situation, in case another colony gets picked on.

A method that is advocated in old books is to lean a sheet of glass (or polycarbonate) against the entrance. The rightful entrants will find a way round it, but the robbers will keep flying into the glass and give up. I have never used this method, as I have never had to, so I don't know if it works or not.

If there is only one colony doing the robbing and one being robbed, it is often sorted out by swapping places. This seems to confuse them and generally works.

If the robbed colony has taken a bit of a beating, then close it up and move it 3 miles or more away. In it's place put a brood box with some honey on a plate or saucer inside, or if there is a frame in another colony, preferably the robbers colony, with a small amount of liquid stores in, then place that in it. Once the robbers have cleared it up they should quieten down and return to normal.

Originally written by Dave Cushman. Rewritten by Roger Patterson.

Page created 07/12/2001

Page updated 24/12/2022