There are other bee hives close by.

[ski]

Well my six hives had thanksgiving early this year, they had many many many visitors come to dinner many of which, maybe all were uninvited and I am sure all took leftovers back home with them and came back for seconds. 4 of the six hives were robbed pretty much clean. I have them on 72 hour lock down using robber screens (added a few days ago) with hive top feeders in place trying to play catch up. Plan on opening up the top of the robber screens after the lock down.
What do you think the odds are they will survive the winter if I continue feeding?
Any suggestions / comments are welcome.

[Wally]

Only the big boss above can answer that question. I would try it, tho.

[ski]

OK, Thanks Wally.
The man upstairs said be patient and the answer will come.

Also just wanted to make sure I was doing all that I could be doing.

[ski]

I am sure there was robbing last week because there was a lot of bees and bunches of bees fighting at the entrance.

SO, today I was pleased to see bees on the robber screens until I noticed several had pollen. Now it looks like I am keeping the foragers from getting back in. They do eventually find their way to the top. Maybe the robbers remain at the bottom. Hmm I need to sit and watch a little longer.


I put branches on the hives hoping they would reorient when they came out of the robber screen and then know where to go to get back in.
Do the branches need to be closer to the the exit ?

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w45/ ... 008001.jpg

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w45/ ... 008002.jpg

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w45/ ... 008003.jpg

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w45/ ... 008007.jpg

[ski]

I checked the hives after dark and all the bees were either inside or went back to their own hives. There were no bees hanging on the outside of the screen. So maybe thats a good sign of the foragers that were supposed to get in found their way in.

[Wally]

It takes them awhile, but they figure it out.

[Ron Young]

I have two strong hives, but they are very light. I put feeders on them today, and filled them full of heavy syrup. I mixed one gallon of water to each 25 lb. bag of sugar. They are still bringinng in Aster flow, as you can smell it, and see the pollen coming in. However, they were not heavy enough for winter.