Honey Bees Getting Robbed, How to STOP that, and how to combine two weak colonies with news print.

In this video we visit the backyard apiary and notice a landing board that is in trouble. Signs of robbing and how to stop it.
After that, a hive investigation to see why the colony was weak in the first place, making it prone to being robbed out.
If a colony is weak or queenless, we go through how to combine to small colonies into one more functional super organism.
I stop the robbing with a robbing screen that is designed by BeeSmart Designs: amzn.to/3i2KSiC
For Hive Inspections, I use 1:1 sugar syrup with 2 tsp/pint of honey-b-healthy: (great for those hot dry days) amzn.to/2AbOmhM
Copper mesh has many uses, here is the one I use: amzn.to/3f968AA
My weekly question and answer video will post during the weekend. Thank you very much for your patience.
As an Amazon affiliate we benefit from qualifying purchases.
Visit Fred's Website Here: www.fredsfinefo...
If you want a flow-hive please avoid fakes, here is the real deal at $50.00 off: mbsy.co/honeyfl...
AU - mbsy.co/zSDf9
EU - mbsy.co/zSDbm
For those asking about the newsprint I use, here is a link: amzn.to/2NwMlzM
I also use it for dry sugar feeding in winter.

[@afterburner94]

Absolutely mind blown by the amount of resource and info you're putting out there for everyone Fred. You're amazing. Thank you so much!

[@FrederickDunn]

Wow, thank you!

[@lieboen]

I agree! Thank you

[@Gamergirl1926]

lieboen @a

[@mike2900]

Agreed! Thank you Fred

[@Glassandcandy]

This has to be THE single best photographed channel on bee keeping on the entirety of youtube. Your camera work is great and I really appreciate the extra effort you put into composing your shots to be balanced, well exposed and crisply focused. What makes it even better is the use of macro lenses to really get to see the bees up close. Excellent stuff, m8.

[@FrederickDunn]

Wow, thanks!

[@ruthkaliszewski8319]

big boss bob ross Can you tell us more about the issue with open larvae ?

[@donnalynn2]

I don't know why this ended up in my recommendations but it's fascinating! I could listen to you talk all day long.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you Donna!

[@bees.company]

You're helping the next generation of beekeepers! Thanks for such useful information!

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you so much!

[@Huntnlady7]

Just did this same thing two weeks ago. I had ordered two mated Weaver queens, but UPS delivery was delayed. One queen was not marked and under-mated with dead bees in the cage. I tried to direct release, but she flew off never to return. Five days later I combined the queenless bees with my lowest in numbers hive. Happy now with two Carniolan-queened hives and one Weaver hive. This whole re-queening Africanized hives has been quite an experience. I'm glad you recommended the Weaver queens, but with the awful delivery between Houston area to South New Mexico, I will not try that again. The Carniolans came from Lappe's bees of Iowa.

[@FrederickDunn]

DANG... seeing a Weaver Queen fly off on her own would be sooooooo coffee-cup-dropping terrible!!! (';')... had they been feeding her through the screen before you opened her up? so frustrating but I'm glad you've found a suitable queen for your bees. We currently have storms and rain, so my incoming queen should be nice and cool in transit. Hot weather can partially sterilize a new queen in transit and that's a huge downer.... BUT, you can requeen with the brood she does produce.

[@weasleoop]

I have had to requeen a aggressive africanized hive before. It was my nightmare last year. They would chase me legit two miles from the hive down my driveway.

[@larrylewis3573]

Dear Frederick, Once again a most fascinating and absorbing episode of beekeeping. I would never have known there was such a phenomenon as robbing a colony. What was equally interesting was your analysis of the two colonies, how you combined them, and the addition of a new queen in a few days. I pray your reconstituted colony thrives and becomes a strong and productive colony. Sincerely, Larry, Canada.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you Larry :) and today I was invited to collect a swarm, so the spot is now occupied again.

[@chuckt7636]

As a "returning" bee keeper, I was a beekeeper late '70's to mid 90's in NJ then PA, I've had some catching up to do on newfangled equipment, new pests and techniques. I want to say THANKS! You are doing the hobby a great service in the highest degree (I don't even think that statement covers it). I find your video Q&A's extremely thorough and equally informative. With KZbin I can watch during breakfast, pause, lunch and finish when I have the time. I love the index so I can skip some basic knowledge I remember well. After the first Q&A I watched I went back to day 1 and scrolled to "yellow jacket raid" and began my catch up on beekeeping. I "lost" my apiary (small hobbyist 6 hives) to bears in '95 and never started another hive. I've carted 2 1/2 complete hives of now vintage wood with me for 20+ years. It was put some of this wood together or sell it. A swarm landed in the tree of my home in Buffalo NY (nearly downtown) a few years ago... in the city?? I was blown away and also mad that I had no equipment put together to give them a home. In the past few years I researched new bee lines, especially the Russian bees and then the Sazkatraz line was available. 5 days ago I installed my first Saskatraz bees. The Queen died in her cage before she was released, another is on her way. As you know it never gets boring keeping bees. Thanks again Chuck T Buffalo NY Should you read this could you produce a coffee mug with a standard langstroth hive? Or perhaps the artwork from your hive bodies.

[@FrederickDunn]

I'm glad you have come full circle and are back to keeping bees! Thank you for sharing your story!

[@totaltropicals_tv1010]

I was robbed by bees once. They stung me $8.00 for a small jar of honey!

[@tonyjohnson686]

Mr Dunn has the most pleasant speaking style and is the best at giving worthwhile information in a very interesting manner. thank you.

[@FrederickDunn]

So nice of you

[@sparkybrad2445]

Amazing video, Fred has taught me more about beekeeping in the past few weeks than a decade of trial and error. Western New York can be tricky for a beekeeper.

[@FrederickDunn]

Wow, thank you :)

[@kimberlyjeanne9456]

What part? I’m from Buffalo, living in MD rn

[@mjgbabydragonlet]

I am excited to see how they do with a mated queen! The video of the robbing was very interesting....especially when you slowed it down.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you and I'll be sharing their progress and hope they come out like champs :)

[@ellenl.5581]

@@FrederickDunn Yes, I am so disappointed when I don't see the ending. Even if you believe it is boring.

[@dickiedollop]

It’s a bit like the Black Friday sales at Walmart 😳

[@pnwRC.]

That's no lie!

[@maskettaman1488]

Not just Friday when blacks are involved! Looks more like a store in Minnesota!

[@filmer197]

@@maskettaman1488 blm?? bees looting mad? :)

[@julieenslow5915]

Folks, I know you are joking but Black Friday has nothing to do with race! Remember these posts will be here years from now.

[@dickiedollop]

@@julieenslow5915 there is no inference of race other than your own perceived conclusion, the term Black Friday was used to describe the chaos surrounding the hyped up selling events sending people into ridiculous behaviour to buy goods. Are you trying to virtue signal by turning this into a race debate ? My point was nothing of the sort and Black Friday sales have never been about race !

[@Redberryfarm888]

Ahhhh... gotta get some robbing screens! Yes - that awful sound of a hive being robbed... 'bee pandemonium'. A few years back I inadvertently and foolishly left my spun out frames too close to the original hive to get cleaned out. (Thinking like a human and that this would be a good thing for them to do... and also I thought that 100 feet or so would be far enough away....) Well, I invited a massive 'bee war' that followed the honey scent back to the hive (ok... anything and everything was flying around the whole area... wasps... bees... you name it...)... and not only did they rob the hive - I ended up with a heap of dead bees and no hive left. A very costly mistake.

[@KillerofGods]

Okay so as someone who isnt a beekeeper... What is a spun out frame

[@Redberryfarm888]

@@KillerofGods - Great question. It is what I call honey frames full of honey that were spun 'out' in a honey extractor ... (uncapped and emptied out of the honey into waiting buckets ) ... but still had some bits of honey drippings left in the comb/ deep frames. This scent was the same scent from where the still full frames were in the nearby hives for winter food. Hope that explains things ~

[@scotthenderson4376]

I learned the hard way to always keep a couple nuc's ready to go. Great pictures and info

[@AhdDib]

Between your exceptional informative videos and a local friend who is giving me hands on experience I've decided to start beekeeping! Thanks for your hard work! If increasing interest in bee keeping is a focus point for your efforts I'd say you are succeeding remarkably.

[@FrederickDunn]

So nice of you

[@honeybeematungkas2577]

Thank Fred for this really cool experience. Without this, i would not have noticed what robbing activity would look like.

[@jamesbracken1767]

Great portrayal of landing board activity! I have a queenless hive that was full of drone brood and I chose not to fuse it with it with another hive so as not to load another hive full of drones useless, resource consuming drones. Eventually my other hives started a robbing frenzy like what is shown in this video. Given that the weak hive is now full of drones (about 50/50 population) I still don't want to dump them into another hive and am at a loss as how to deal with the situation.

[@FrederickDunn]

They are not likely to feed all of those drones, and I think you'll see the drone numbers fall off quick. Drones are the great vagabonds of the honey bee world, they tend to go to any hive where they are cared for.

[@kevmo7773]

I expierenced a robbing of my hives recently. After I did quick inspection and determined they had been queenless for over a week I closed up the hive robbers and all for 2 days and fed sugar water. Then moved them to the other side of my property 1/4 mile and gave them a new queen. They bounced back extremely well!

[@WadcaWymiaru]

You gave them a new queen that is why...usually quinless colonies are doomed.

[@Noahsoak]

I just covered mine with a white sheet, wondering how long to leave it.

[@billbyrd9845]

Thank you. I had no idea how to detect robbing. Now I know.

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad to help

[@frednerk6]

This video was very informative. Thank you.

[@robertdillon9989]

Excellent tutorial !!!!!!

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad you liked it!

[@mattsara2802]

Thanks. Our flow just started Here in Minnesota

[@lovepeace1788]

Honestly I feel like commercial bee keepers are a detriment to the bee population. Bee's are endangered. We need to be saving as many as we can. Commercial bee keepers are normally only in it for the money. Great video honey. Please keep up the amazing work

[@forgivenson6482]

Do you keep bees ?

[@danieldorchester5221]

This was a great Video. It’s all about the Queen sometimes.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you :)

[@Irene-ke6to]

I enjoyed your video! It was very educational and informative. I love how you showed slow motion the robbing activity. You have a wonderful voice too!! Clear and concise, you don't talk too fast, you explain in plain english. Thanks!

[@Noahsoak]

Glad I've found this. I wasn't sure. Went out this a.m. About 9:15, approx. 52 degrees, at entrance saw mass of bees at entrance, never see bees this active, this early. At first, I thought orientation flight? Never this early before before sun has brightened up. Watched, waited, bees noisy, really fast entrance, fast exit, bees just hanging on hive, on legs, etc. trying the upper vent..... Covered with white sheet, now the bees are on outside of it. Inside feeder. Sept. 30th.

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad you are being vigilant. Things can happen very fast.

[@conrad4852]

Magnificent videos. I'm not a bee keeper, but I am fascinated by bees so I greatly appreciate the three videos of yours I have watched so far.

[@RT-qd8yl]

I just want to say thank you so much for your videos. I'm not a beekeeper, but I have a horrible phobia of wasps specifically. I use your videos to help with my treatment and to show myself that not everything with wings and a stinger is bad, and often can be quite nice and lovely. I'm also interested in getting into this as a hobby once I progress a bit more!

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you, I'm so glad to know that I may be helping with your stress levels. Knowledge never hurts :)

[@lenturtle7954]

Wasps stings are whimpey compared to honey bees . For me Yellow jackets barely hurt . White faced hornets hurt for about ten min Bees hurt a lot more for about 3 min . And being stung hundreds of times by honey increased my immunity from severe swelling to a slight itch .

[@garydungelman6530]

Fred that was put together very nice thank you

[@weasleoop]

Great video Fred showing a newspaper combine. I did one of those earlier this year because the hive was weak. So I took bees from a huge colony and gave them a boost. It works flawlessly to combine that way. I had no issues.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks Carlos... yep, extremely simple to do. Always great to see your comments!

[@thestillroombotanicals2932]

This was the most helpful and educational beekeeping video I’ve ever seen! Thank you!

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@luci75d76]

Awesome shots ...I love it !

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks a lot!

[@RonnieB230]

Perfect timing for me to watch this video . I will be doing this tomorrow and this gave me a little help on what to do . Thanks for the video

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad it helped!

[@rodneymiddleton9624]

I haven't had the displeasure of a robbing event yet but I appreciate the information of what to look for and how to remedy it. I'm going to go ahead and get a few Beesmart robbing screens just in case. Thanks and keep the videos coming!!!!!!

[@fishmanfairclough7530]

Unfortunately it is just matter of time especially as you build up your apiary.

[@FrederickDunn]

Yes, everyone eventually experiences robbing on some level. The key is to give them a defend-able entrance AND.... be aware when they go queenless... this could have been averted by a more keen beekeeper.... should have re-queened them weeks ago.

[@fishmanfairclough7530]

@@FrederickDunn It is all a never-ending learning experience and I think bees benefit from a hands off approach :) You can learn a lot like you say from just looking at the landing board and the behaviour there. Take care and have a great day.

[@Zerkbern]

Great job. We need to Index all of these. You are such an invaluable resource. Thank you.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you so much! :) and yes... I do need some sort of master list. It's a time management thing...

[@jasonrasheed7670]

Totally agree with Zerkbern, Fred your vids provide an amazing chronicle of your day to day observations of hive activity and bee behaviour as well as practical solutions. Yes, looter bees or pirate bees.

[@luciellemeister8421]

Still catching up on all your old videos. Need to do exactly what your video showed . Lost my queen . Combining my colonies . Thanks you for the video

[@saltatempo83]

Well explained! Thanks for the video

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks for watching!

[@thegr8stm8]

Wonderful Fred… a gr8 study, close up! Thanks for all your work. Another good use of equipment during a non commercial period.

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad you enjoyed it, John!

[@chicagojoe5659]

Thank You ,FRED learned something new from you again Joe 2022

[@FrederickDunn]

You're welcome :)

[@58Kym]

I look forward to seeing how they go with a new queen and hopefully they accept her quickly.

[@FrederickDunn]

fingers crossed... and the new queen is inbound! We just may salvage them :)

[@weasleoop]

@@FrederickDunn A new queen will be accepted easily with a lower colony number.

[@geckoproductions4128]

Nice video, very instructive, thanks

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@shaunroberts9361]

That was really cool Fred.

[@12ArmyNavy12]

Thanks, great video. Very informative.

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@SignatureAz]

Hi Fred! Try this for preventing the robbing: If you find out which hive is the robber hive scrape some capped honey in their chamber. They will start eating and fixing their comb and stop robbing behavior. This is what my grandpa was doing. To find out which hive is a robber hive you need to sprinkle wood ash on the robbing bees and chase them.

[@FrederickDunn]

What I do to find the robbers if they are from my apiary is to dump powdered sugar on them at the robbing landing board and see what other colonies they show up at. Then, if they are mine, I spray the front of that hive with 1:1 sugar syrup and Honey-B-Healthy and they stop. This gives the defending colony an opportunity to fortify their defenses if it isn't too late. In this case, the robbed colony was already too weak.

[@enricolovadina3560]

Very good.

[@247KW]

Felt like I was watching a professional movie. Excellent video and I learned a bunch. I don't have bee's but I'd like some I think

[@gigiis526]

Interesting how you go about combining the colonies with the paper with slits. Thank you for the informative video.

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad it was helpful! The top box bees actually just pushed their way down into the bottom box without removing the paper... so far. It's interesting to say the least.

[@susanorr8348]

Your videos are very helpful. We have a small local apiary and enjoy it but sometimes the problems can cross one’s eyes! We like to ultimately try to think like bees and let bees do what they would do but a step in the right direction always helps. Thanks!

[@FrederickDunn]

So nice of you, thanks!

[@clairefletcher573]

Extremely helpful thank you so much. We've gone from 1 to 3 backyard hives in 10 days after swarming But I'm not so sure about the activity around the hives. This has been good to watch.

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad it helped!

[@BikeAndFish1]

Amazing. Thanks.

[@Grimthings]

This video was fascinating and very informative. The robbing sequences were so captivating. Thank you!

[@FrederickDunn]

You're very welcome

[@muppelmuh134]

I really enjoy your narrated observation! thank you again for putting them out here! Your videos are amazing! So educational, so fascinating and I especially love the real time pace of it. ! I actually came to honey bees reading up on eusociality and then youtube suggested me your channel, but now I definately need to know everything about bees and beekeeping

[@RaySarasin]

I noticed robbing 1 week ago so i put the entrance reducer on the hives which stopped that cold my 2 cents cheers

[@FrederickDunn]

Stopping the robbing is one part, knowing they were queenless before that is the real key. Queenless colonies seem to invite invasion.

[@mikeries8549]

I've concluded that if a hive gets robbed to death ... it probably deserved to die. Making more new bees is easy. The equipment is where all the value is.

[@SageandStoneHomestead]

Just bought our Flow Hive 2+ and a couple regular langstroth! So excited to pick up the bees this week. We are all ready for splits when needed.

[@FrederickDunn]

That is awesome! I hope you get them all together and glued up well in advance of the bees arriving :)

[@SageandStoneHomestead]

@@FrederickDunn it has arrived and we are oiling the hive asap, painted the roof yesterday!!

[@lordbeebus9842]

Your channel, work and efforts are amazing!

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you very much!

[@wilmafeuerstein434]

Excellent video as usual. I have had problems with robbing in the past and appreciate very much your information. Will be prepared for the next time. God bless you.

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad it was helpful!

[@RyanMcDonnough]

Very informative. Thank you for making these videos. Your work is top-notch. 🍻

[@FrederickDunn]

Glad you like them! Thanks Ryan!

[@k.rebeccagell8766]

Great footage Fred, wishing you well with a new queen ahead!

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you, she's already on her way... gotta love the Weaver Family, they had mated queens ready to go! And this morning I already have a swarm to go collect, so the original spot will have a new colony right away.

[@weasleoop]

@@FrederickDunn You got a swarm? Lucky. I only got 2 this year. But I got none last year so I will take it!

[@honeypotsbeez5953]

Another awesome video! Thanks Fred!

[@FrederickDunn]

My pleasure!

[@pnwRC.]

Great video, thanks for sharing. It's good to know what signs I should be aware of when I finally get me some bees.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you!

[@pankajmakwana2300]

Thank you for another amazing video. This is a queen action packed at work . She is incredibly accurate with her pattern of laying filling almost every cell. So it will return and fill uncapped cells later? Please let us know.

[@tejjensen9402]

I was surprised ... did not think I should see a crime with robbery!

[@planbeeapiaries]

Interesting how the robbers do some nasonov fanning right after landing to tell the others where to go for some good stuff.

[@tnbeelady7255]

I've had good luck putting a laying queen under a queen cage near emerging brood on a frame introduced into the hive. Both brood and queen pheromone are then in play to suppress worker ovaries.

[@gabe-po9yi]

I felt so badly for the bees when you opened up the box. They were still working their butts off, trying to do the best they could with what they had. If that’d been we humans, most of us would have fled a long time ago - the ‘every man for himself’ mentality. “Good luck, everybody (whom I’m leaving behind), I’m outta here.” Nice, informative video.

[@ZelmaBees]

Good reference video; thanks Fred.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks and you're very welcome!

[@mike-md]

Fred, another great learning video. Looks like it's time to sharpen that knife. But then again, at least you (we) are still caring one. I feel we're a dying breed though. :)

[@israeltorres8603]

hello Fred. thank you for all you do to help the new bee keepers.what ever happen to your hive that was poisoned?

[@FrederickDunn]

They have fully recovered. Thanks for asking :)

[@StanlocoInc]

Great and informative video. I really appreciate it. I am getting really frustrated with youtubes nonsense though. They said they were going to take away the dislike button, but instead just hid the numbers while making the dislike button super sensitive. I hit the like button a dozen time but it wouldn’t light up. I had to dislike it first in order for the like button to function. So I hope it shows this video as being liked.

[@FrederickDunn]

Thank you!

[@TheBlackDeck]

Can we get a follow up video?

[@mlguelferreira2607]

ok muito bem meu amigo . excelente trab. Eu amo as abelhas

[@robertmathurin739]

Thanks Mr Dunn,,,,🇱🇨👊🏿👍🏿🖤,, learning process

[@AvocaSingleTrack]

Here in NE PA that would be Bees plus Yellow Jackets. When you see this behavior the colony is usually gona already. A pile of those white specs all across the bottom below the frames. All the honey frames uncapped and robbed.

[@seanjordan3870]

Would've like to have seen you introduce that queen in this video...

[@FrederickDunn]

The introduction method doesn't change... but yes, it would have topped things off nicely. This colony is still doing very well this year.

[@DeadTalkLive]

Great clip 👍! As a fellow KZbinr, I am on the lookout for creative ideas! Great Job!

[@gregwaskom552]

You should still give them a frame of emerging brood as they wont have the nurse bees to allow the queen to lay very much brood.

[@FrederickDunn]

We'll see how it goes Greg... I think they will make it.

[@jameswoenker2659]

Good to know

[@brucewest4862]

Given that the lower colony appears to have a laying worker, I would have thought the new queen might be killed by the laying worker hive. What is the likelihood of her being attacked? Would inserting capped brood frames and shaking off some nurse bee from other hives have increased the success of acceptance of a new queen and stop the laying worker from continuing to lay?

[@FrederickDunn]

IT worked and they ended up blending nicely. Dumping nurse bees into an occupied hive directly generally ends up with quite a bit of fighting and some deaths on both resident and introduced bees. This method worked out fine, but I could see where there could be some variables to consider.

[@daleford5531]

Totally great watching your video..I'm in Astoria Ore and do all the technics..you just used..in fact I teach them..but I've been building my own robber screens. Not just for honey bee robbing but yellow jackets too..but introducing a queen directly into laying workers?? I've had laying workers reject queens..any thoughts?

[@malonehoney]

Can I ask what camera you are using, the picture is very clear. Very interesting!

[@FrederickDunn]

HI Susan, I think on this one it was a Sony AX-100... :)

[@malonehoney]

Frederick Dunn Thank you!

[@voodooqueen322]

Great info thank you!

[@FrederickDunn]

Thanks and you're welcome! :)

[@FloryJohann]

My bees are flying right into the entrance as in this video and they are not being robbed. My bees will catch an intruder and ask them by force to leave. My hives are queen right and making brood and honey, but even when they where queen-less they done the same thing including showing intruders the door.

[@so_cal_mom]

I'm so bummed one of my colonies has been getting robbed the last couple of days. I made a robbing screen but I'm afraid to even look in the hive.

[@FrederickDunn]

Sorry to hear that Linda, but looking into the hive is important to see if you even have a queen that's actively laying.

[@lenoretalon9958]

Get in there fast!

[@ancienthistory6513]

Love your vid

[@ahmednoseir7433]

Who is here at working with one airpod in your ear listening to this and getting knowledge about bees life

[@toykawilliams3273]

What happens to the bees being robbed? Are they killed? Hiding out somewhere close?

[@MartyHuie]

First of all thank you very much for this, I have stumbled across doing the right thing I guess :-) but just seeing someone do it as well helps me understand maybe potential better ways or things I was doing right thank you again At 26 minutes and 43 seconds I noticed in the background the Flowhive 2 with the Flowhive window box on the bottom. Are those the flow frames inside on the bottom? Is the queen excluder in and the queen located on the top or do you have at this time a queen excluder at all in the space? I was a original crowdfunding participant. I’ve got two original flow frames at my home which are doing gangbusters and always have. I have 12 flowframe 2’s on a campground. And just more curious about management. And I like the entrance cover you got protecting the entrance of the flow frame 2 from rain. I like the metal bottom board but at the same time I think it traps rain and I like what you’ve got there I might have to make 12 of them

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Marty, the brood boxes from flow that have windows on both sides were an experiment and were not made available to the public. To my knowledge, they did not continue to offer those. I have just three brood boxes from flow with those windows and they really don't offer much of an advantage so that design was dead-in-the-water so to speak. Thanks for watching and I'm glad you've gotten some new ideas :)

[@annebradley1719]

Your video is so interesting and informative. I have a wild bee hive and was so excited when bees decided to call it their home, the hive has been so busy during the summer but think my bees have been robbed. I saw a wasp come out with something cream. There are loads of dead bees outside on the landing board. One or two bees have come out but have died. No bees are going out or in. Does this mean my wild bees are going to die?

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Anne, I'm not sure what a "wild bee hive" is? Did you have a feral swarm or something? At any rate, the description you're giving me indicates that they may have lost their queen. I would do an inspection for evidence of eggs and young larvae... based on your description, I think it's going to be bad news. :(

[@annebradley1719]

Frederick Dunn my hive is a B D Bee House for wild bees or any bees really. It is not made so you can get inside it, it’s insulated and the bees are supposed to just look after them selves. They make enough honey to last them over the winter, I suspect this is what they were doing as they were so busy. I wanted to help bees but am not good with them, I bit scared really. It’s sighted in a tree. I think the bees came as a swarm in the middle of June. I have taken a photo but just need to work out how to load it.

[@danieltaylor8113]

I had to combine small hives the yesterday! One of the splits i made with a virgin queen i had grafted somehow didnt get mated, so i gave them a frame of eggs and 2 weeks later i saw the new virgin queen (queen attempt 2) and then she didnt make it back from mating either. How unlucky, since that process of 2 queen tries had taken so long, i ended up taking one of my 3 frame resource hives and dropping them into the split, i didnt use paper so i hope it works!

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Daniel! When we wait for those virgin queens to do their thing, it's always a risk as you've so well stated here. Foragers are dying each and every day, so the numbers will continue to go down. When the colony strength is low, we really need to get a resident mated queen in there as soon as possible. This is why many beekeepers keep those mated queen nucleus colonies on hot standby just in case a large colony goes queen-less. I'm guilty in this area as I have those nucleus hives and they are completely unoccupied (';')... could have used two of them in this case. I have room to play, as my target apiary size is 10 colonies and I'm running 18 at the moment, 17 as of this event. BUT, received a call to come and collect a swarm that is on the ground! So I'll be going out in the rain this morning to hive those and will be immediately back to 18 colonies. It's a pleasure to have these situations to learn from and share about. I really enjoy knowing that you are mentoring so many new beekeepers there! Keep it up Daniel! :)

[@danieltaylor8113]

@@FrederickDunn thanks mr Fred. I did a walk away split in one of my 3 framers yesterday. Going to give it to a couple that started beekeeping because they saw the interview. They approached me and i offered to teach and they got a 2 hour class from me around the apiary and then they went and got their equipment. My club has been blessed this year. It was just me and the german worker that manages the garrison's hives, but we now have several people, my rule this year is, if you buy your equipment then i will give you a small split to put in it for free, and teach you. I raise the queens and some frames and my buddy kicks in a couple frames. We are basically handing out 5 frame nucs! People dont realize we are saving them a couple hundred bucks, all to grow the program, raise awareness, and so i can practice my teaching

[@CraigThorne]

That bird in the back ground is saying 'honey, honey, honey, honey, honey'.

[@wadebarnes6720]

I had to like that today I thought it was warming then I thought Robin then all of them went in after about 20 minutes so I figured it was first flight

[@jarnold8803]

I had a colony that appeared queenless. I put a frame of eggs, larvae and brood to make a new queen. This did not work and there was no brood. I then combined with a swarm I put in a box a month earlier with newspaper and queen excluder. 14 days later I have brood in both boxes. Separated the 2 colonies and will inspect again in 2 weeks

[@FrederickDunn]

what a great final result!

[@brucewest4862]

I too, have the plastic robbing screen on this video. If the copper mesh doesn't prevent the robbers from finding their way in, what about the robbing screen would be more successful than the copper mesh?

[@FrederickDunn]

The robbing screen prevents direct entry which the robbing bees prefer.

[@helenfay9465]

Thank you so much for this information. I have a lot to watch on your channel! Wow! 🙏✨... I have only one beehive here in central Portugal but returned from our holidays Sunday night to find very few bees coming in and out. Yesterday morning revealed gangs of Asian hornets at the entrance have been attacking them.. . Waiting on the landing board and carrying them off. I spent hours yesterday sat by the hive and killing the non native hornets and they seemed to become very few and far between . This morning though I only see one or two Asiatic wasps but I have a lot of bees flying in and out of the hive, not defensive at all and that frenzy of activity you show, coming out loaded. I have put an entrance reducer but I don't have a robbing vent. I must invest! I am wondering if i should go into the hive after sundown to see if I can take aside any resources they have left in the top box. I have a deep box of frames on top of the brood box. Yesterday I took a peep and it seemed there was some capped honey there still. Maybe not after all of the robbing today though 🤔😔...

[@weasel945]

Have you tried giving the bees that belong to the colony little ID badges and a security door to keep the robbers out?

[@FrederickDunn]

Yes, they refuse to recognize authority....

[@marciamarcia2286]

Can you put a hive like that on a scale and record how much weight the colony is losing in resources?

[@FrederickDunn]

You could have a hive scale under it, or lift it, but inspection is just as effective.

[@bethhuston7956]

@6:46 they sound like airplanes ✈🤣

[@richardkuhn8115]

Very informative video Fred. Where did you find news print, without the ink? Thanks for sharing. Blessings.

[@FrederickDunn]

Years ago I bought a huge box of it on Amazon... it's great stuff.

[@omarualpacafarm]

In one of your videos you made a comment on the shade covers over the top of your landing boards. Is there a video on them?

[@FrederickDunn]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2WXh5mqadmIqck

[@jrenee383]

What would you do when your weak colony is queen right? I have a lot of young bees in the colony, no brood, a laying queen, and robbed clean. Lots of pollen. Down to one deep ten frame with food on top. I have 1 other split that is strong. One hive that is somewhat strong with a laying queen and honey stores and a really strong hive. So heavy I can barely lift it. Was considering taking honey and brood from the super strong hive, but don't want to screw them up. Awesome video, btw!

[@FrederickDunn]

Hi Judy, the bees will select their favorite queen and eject the other one. This is why people often find late season swarms on the ground that are tiny. A lesser queen has been tossed and there weren't enough faithful workers to go with her. They are often poor performers, or not properly mated. When you combine two colonies, they make their decision fairly fast. BUT, if you know the queen is failing, you can speed things along by dispatching her.