Below is a video of the hive. I usually use a tripod and at the end of the filming with bees head bumping me on all sides, I was not a steady camera holder, so it's jiggly, but I put it up so you can see what robbing actually looks like.
Both Orientation in the afternoons and swarming behavior when the hive is gathering for the swarm are often confused with robbing. Both lack the violence.
In the end I soaked a sheet in water and threw it over the hive for a couple of hours. The robbers desisted and left.
Later in the evening, I removed the sheet and set the robber screen up so that the entry was open for a bit. The sad bees were carrying out opened larvae.
Under the hive you can see lots of wax shards from the robbers tearing open cells.
I had just inspected this hive yesterday and was pleased to find that they along with the rest of my hives were putting up some nectar and that they had some larvae in the cells.
I don't know what the state of this hive is and if it can recover. I may open it on Sunday and see what I may need to do to support them, such as add some frames of honey from another hive.
Oh, that looks so sad! I hope they can recover.
ReplyDeleteHowdy, What do you use under your cinder blocks?
ReplyDeleteDon't know what you mean? Some of my hives are on the edge of a basketball court so the cinder blocks are in concrete. Some of my hives are on grass and the cinder blocks sit on grass
ReplyDelete