Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

ocba - [ocba] Another newbie question- robbers?

ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Blair Christian <blair.christian AT gmail.com>
  • To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [ocba] Another newbie question- robbers?
  • Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2011 12:28:56 -0400

Hi All,

I just got my first bees last week- a nuc from the Carolina bee
company in Youngsville. Call me paranoid, but sometimes there are
just a few workers flying in and out, but other times there are
"large" (large relative to what it usually is) numbers of bees
zigzagging and flying in/out of the hive. I remember seeing a Keith
Delaplane video where he mentioned that was a sign of robber bees. I
put a few sticks around the entrance to restrict the movement. The
behavior has been consistent since the day after I got them, but these
bee clouds around the front of the hive have gotten bigger and bigger,
they come and go at different times of the day.

Video here (15 sec):
https://picasaweb.google.com/blair.christian/Animals#5619965362738696914

Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/blair.christian/Animals#5619963851425860354
https://picasaweb.google.com/blair.christian/Animals#5619963828383035842

They've been going through about a cup of 1:1 sugar syrup a day as well.

Is this normal, or if it is robber bees, what do I do?

Best,
Blair




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page