robber screen question

[newguy]

have any of you used a robber screen? im curious about what the bees reaction and behavior was like at first.  i just put one in last night and i was wondering how long i takes the bees to get used to their new entrance.  right now, mine are looking quite confused and their are some on the outside looking very confused i dont know if they are robbers or mine but they are doing sort of a wiggle dance and look upset.   also when i checked them yesterday i saw a few of them with sticky yellow feet and many of these were getting dragged out of the hive by their feet by other bees. i was guessing this stuff on their feet is propolis but im not sure.  i dont know if they were being removed because they had this stuff on their feet or if they were robber bees.

[Michael Bush]

Try removing the robber screen just before dark when the robbers have gone home.  After everyone is inside before sunup put it back on.

If you find bees on the screen after dark they are either bearding from the heat or can't get in.  The ones on the outside after dark live there.  The ones on the outside in the daytime are probably robbers.

[Patrick]

Hi,
I have searched through the old posts and cannot find an answer.  How long will it take for the bees to get used to the robber screen?  I have been out there two nights to let the cluster on the outside of the screen back in. I had an entrance reducer on to start with but the fighting and dead bees were observed so I think I need to go with the screen (I had this same problem last year, there must be an aggressive feral hive nearby).
Should I just leave the bees out there over night? Will I loose them if I don't remove the screen at night?  Other than that my package is doing fine, week number 1.  I had the same problem last year and I was slow to react. Trying to be a bit more pro active this year.
Cheers,
Patrick

[Michael Bush]

>I have searched through the old posts and cannot find an answer.  How long will it take for the bees to get used to the robber screen?

They usually figure it out in a day.  Maybe you have "slow" bees.

[Patrick]

No doubt it has rubbed off from the beekeeper.   :-D

Cheers,
Patrick