At the Hive Entrance.pdf - BioBees

Observation
Explanation
restricted populations is filled
with clumps of bees leaving
very little free space.
the bottom of the frames. You may see a barb of bees
reaching to the floorboard. This is by no means a sign
of there being too many young bees. This is the way
they shut off the inner alleys and prevent the cold reaching
the brood. Contrary to appearances, the number
of bees on the brood itself may be reduced to a
great extent. By placing themselves under the frames
the bees protect the brood beter than if they were
actually on it. This shows us that a colony will use its
own vitally important heat in an economical and sensible
way.
(In April, the hive entrance must be kept relativity
small).
Reinforced guard at the hive
entrance. Isolated or general
fighting.
The colony is threatened by robbers and is still defending
itself. It should be helped by either reducing the
hive entrance or placing a glass pane or branches in
front of it. This last procedure appears to be little
known.
Two of the hives within the
apiary show great activity, but
there is no fighting.
Robbing is at its worst. Often one of the colonies is
the robber the other the robbed. In this case one permutes
both colonies or immediately feeds the plundering
colony. In all cases of robbing the greatest care
must be exercised. If the intruding colony comes from
another apiary and the victim hive has a good queen
likely to develop normally, it must be kept for two or
three days in a dark, calm, well-ventilated room.
The first thing to do however, is to give the intruders
the opportunity to escape (it is best to open the rear
window of the hive at some distance from the apiary).
During the next few days the victim population must
be nourished and either thyme or mint oil added to
the sugar syrup so as to change the smell of the hive.
A sure and certain way to eliminate the danger of robbing
is to move either the intruding or the victim hive
at a distance of two or three kilometers from the
appiary.
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