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Author Topic: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.  (Read 3455 times)

Offline Bennettoid

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Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« on: June 08, 2007, 08:17:53 pm »
I took a colony from a Delmarva Fox Squirrel Box (Protected, Endangered Species) at PrimeHook National Wildlife Refuge on the 4th.

The box was full of drone brood. I never spotted the queen, but I thought that she looked like a weak Queen  anyway. I gave them a frame of eggs and hatched brood from another hive and rubber banded as much of their comb as I could into frames.

The dripping honey set off a robbing Frenzy.

Since I didn't see a queen, and if I missed her and she is weak, can I put this deep on top of another deep and combine it with another weak hive? Do I need to add newspaper or just do it?

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Online Michael Bush

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Re: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« Reply #1 on: June 09, 2007, 12:24:17 am »
I never rubber band the honey, just the brood.  The honey combs leak and collapse and set off robbing.  I harvest or scrap the honey.
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Offline Bennettoid

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Re: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2007, 10:09:57 am »
Thats what happened.

Oh well, live and learn.

Should I combine them with another colony or just hope for the best? I've reduced the entrance and put Vicks vapor rub by the entrance,
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Offline JP

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Re: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2007, 10:16:17 am »
Sure they were robbing? Perhaps they were just krumping!  :lol: Seriously though, as MB said, on a cut-out don't add honeycomb to your frames, only broodcomb. Combine that hive with another using the newspaper method, a single sheet will do. Not sure what the vapor rub would do, I personally wouldn't use it.
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Offline Bennettoid

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Re: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« Reply #4 on: June 09, 2007, 10:38:14 am »
I read here in a thread that some vapor rub messes up the robber's sense of smell.

It didn't work tho.

Yea, I think I'll combine them with another colony. Thanks.
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Offline JP

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Re: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« Reply #5 on: June 09, 2007, 10:41:50 am »
no problem, always ready to help out a fellow krumper.
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Online Michael Bush

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Re: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« Reply #6 on: June 09, 2007, 11:57:33 am »
If it's not that big and you already don't care about the queen a combine sounds best.
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Offline Bennettoid

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Re: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« Reply #7 on: June 09, 2007, 03:32:25 pm »
It looks like the robbing stopped. I'm going to try feeding again.
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Offline Bennettoid

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Re: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« Reply #8 on: June 09, 2007, 08:11:41 pm »
Feeding just set up a new robbing frenzy. I'm sealing off all but a small entrance on the weaker hives and setting up a large common sugar feeder about 20 feet out from everyone. 3 feet around shallow tub with about 3 inches of sugar water in it, branches and sticks in it. It seems to be doing the trick, all the hives are getting fed and the robbing is way down. I'm also giving some syrup to the biggest hive, which seems to be the culpret for robbing.
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Offline LocustHoney

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Re: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« Reply #9 on: June 09, 2007, 10:55:14 pm »
I had major problems with robbing also. Lost a building-up hive from a swarm in minutes. They can be VERY tenacious. Anyway...to remedy my problem with feeding I just put on an empty medium and set my feeder indside. The bees come up through the inner cover and everyone is happy. Well maybe not the robbers.
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Online Michael Bush

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Re: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« Reply #10 on: June 09, 2007, 11:33:36 pm »
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My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Offline Bennettoid

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Re: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« Reply #11 on: June 15, 2007, 10:10:12 am »
MB, when I realized what was happening , your site was my first stop.

It seems the Robbing stopped after a day or two and now the weaker hives are being fed without a problem.
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Offline Bennettoid

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Re: Weak hive, weak or no queen, Massive robbing, it was a cut out.
« Reply #12 on: June 18, 2007, 04:07:51 pm »
OK, you guys win. I opened them up yesterday and lots of empty cells and no eggs. They weren't looking too good.

I did the newspaper combine with a nuc that has a good queen, but hadn't reall y built up yet.

I hope I did the right thing.
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