On Friday when we returned from vacation about 2 p.m., the bees seemed as usual, foraging and returning with pollen and nectar. As the day warmed further, activity picked up immensely; I thought how nice the hives were so strong, gathering the last fall nutrients...UNTIL there were more bees than ever before and some pushing and shoving near the entrances of both top bar hive and the Warre hive, and I thought robbing is going on before my very eyes!
I blocked half the entrance of the Warre hive but didn't know what to do for the TBH entrances. (Later, decided I should have plugged those entrances immediately.) Within 30 minutes, the Warre settled down to normal activity while the TBH was swarmed with bees at the entrance. So, I donned my bee outfit and set out with spray bottle of water and hive tools to look into the hive itself, expecting to be mobbed by bees. Definitely robbing--no bees bothered by my being close or even opening the hive...in the past, guard bees were right on it so I knew they were gone. Inside the hive, bees were stacked on top of one another trying to get to the honey cells, cappings were scattered on the hive floor as were dead bees, and no sign of a queen. All this happened within an hour...wow, how quickly the news spread in the bee communities. The Warre hive was able to keep the robbers out.
Decided to tear apart the hive, literally, removing all the bars to check each comb. No brood anywhere and actually not much evidence of honey storage and a couple strange looking white trails on the brood comb...this was a weak hive, which I had suspected earlier in the summer. I'd been away so much that I wasn't tracking the TBH activity carefully and really had decided to let the bees be this year. There were 11 combs drawn: two partially completed combs at the end of the hive, one with a 4" half-moon shape of capped honey; four fully drawn combs about half filled with honey cells, three of which also had been partially used for brood; and five brood combs at the beginning of the hive with the usual pattern of honey and pollen. This is much less than last year when we had 14 combs with seven filled with honey stores. This year's TBH would not have survived the winter without feeding.
After dark when the robbers had gone, I plugged the two entrances knowing the few hive bees left would survive a few days on the honey still remaining. Visitors returned all day Saturday trying to gain access to the hive. Concerned about their moving on to the Warre which sits only 6' away, during the early afternoon I placed a water spray on the hive as discouragement. WRONG thing to do...the bees moved to the Warre hive. I sprayed them off the Warre entrance a couple of times, per instructions found on internet, and finally decided about 3pm to block the entrance entirely. After dark about one-third of the bees remained near the hive entrance--those who belonged in the hive. I unplugged the entrance so they could enter during the night.
Back to a search on how to prevent robbers getting into the hive and found a good screen technique on www.Beesource.com that I felt would be the best for this hive. The screen blocker was installed over the Warre entrance early this morning before dawn so hive foragers would leave the new way and be able to find their way back into the hive upon their return. According to the article, robber bees try to go straight into the entrance rather than find their way behind the screen and travel down into the hive entrance. It's all in place...now the waiting begins. Also, will check the TBH to see how the bees are faring--I'm thinking there will have been a battle inside and not anticipating good news.
Three hours later, here's what it looks like...
Five hours later, front is totally covered, there is fighting on the ground and at the edges of the screen...not working well at all. Called Ernie, a local bee guy in the neighborhood, who said to restrict entrance to a one bee opening, so I mashed the screen under the board above it, sealing off most of the area. I think there are about four spots at each corner where one bee could pass. Now it's wait and see once again.
While asking about what to do, I was told that three others in the area had harvested their honey during the past few days which sets off a "false honey flow" because some honey inadvertently gets spilled around the hives. It seems all the neighborhood bees are out scouting for honey, smelled our hives, and came to rob. I am not happy about the fact that they didn't let me know that they were harvesting and to restrict the hive entrances immediately. They have the normal Langstroth hives and harvest in the fall; my beekeeping model is to harvest in the spring after bees have taken what they need from the honey stores.
Just now had a visit from Ernie, the local bee expert who retired from beekeeping in California several years ago. He looked at the TBH, said it had been queenless for a long time--a month probably--which is why it was robbed to begin with. Also, he said I should be checking every two weeks to insure there's a queen and all is well in the hive; we had decided to leave bees alone this year...maybe not a good idea, at least in this case. Ernie indicated the white trails on the comb was wax moths, resulting from a weakened hive because no queen in residence...got it!
Now the plan is to remove the Warre screen setup after dark when the visitors are gone and restrict the entrance to one bee opening; I'll do that tonight. After dark, I will also remove the roof of the TBH to let trapped bees out and then do what with the remains...not sure yet.
So goes another learning opportunity--not sure I want any more frankly. Probably will not restart the TBH next year.
