Bees rob from each other?? Now that was news to me, although it’s quite logical when one thinks about the animal kingdom, and the way it fights to survive.
After deciding I was going to get into beekeeping in April of 2024, I visited another neighbor who had previously had bees, in hopes of buying older equipment. I found out that he was still keeping bees and had 3 colonies set up. He also happened to be in the middle of trying to catch a swarm in a tree. But he was kind enough to show me his hives and talk about beekeeping (he didn’t have any equipment to sell).
While watching the bees buzz around the three hives I was curious about how close hives could be to each other and wondered how bees know their individual colony. After explaining how each bee “family” has their own particular smell (pheromone) to identify each other, he told me they just stick to their own hive. Until robbing season.
What? Robbing season? Yes, when nectar and pollen become scarce, or winter is approaching, bees will get food resources from any place they can. This includes taking honey from other colonies, especially if they are small or weak. Generally, they get serious about robbing honey in preparation for winter, so that is where the term “robbing season” comes from.
Did you know that each colony has guard bees posted at the entrances? These guard bees sniff each bee as it comes through the door. If the invading bee or bug does not smell right, they aren’t allowed to enter the hive.
But if a colony is too small to have many guard bees, invading armies of robber bees just shove on in. They enter the hive, gorge themselves on honey, then fly back to their own colony and deposit it into wax cells to be used for their own resources.
It’s pretty insane to watch as a cloud of bees descends onto a colony. There is a lot of fighting going on, bees dying, bees trying to get in any crack they can find, and a loud tense buzzing noise accompanying it all. The engorged robber bees will climb up the sides of the box, so that they can get more lift as they jump off to fly home. It’s truly a frenzy that you can hear and feel. This isn’t a safe time to be watching your bees without protective gear, because they will sting anything in sight.
How does one protect a small colony? First off, don’t open the box to do an inspection during robbing season, if possible. If you do open the box, cover the frames with a damp towel, t-shirt, or sheet, and quickly examine just one frame at a time. This is a good time to make a lot of smoke in the air. So put that smoker to use (although it doesn’t prevent robbing, it can confuse the thieves).
And do not use an outside feeder or entrance feeder, as this attracts even more unwanted guests to the honey feast. If feeding bees, use an internal feeder, or a top feeder of sorts. For added security, the top feeder can be inside an empty hive box (called an eke), and the lid on top of that.
Also, reduce the size of the entrance. That way, fewer bees can push through at a time, giving the guard bees a chance to fight back. Reducing the size can be easy and inexpensive. You can either cut your own piece of wood to the right dimensions, allowing just an inch or so. Or there are entrance reducers and guards one can buy at apiarist stores. If you have an upper entrance, close it up, as well.
If you see robbing actually happening, you can use a wet sheet to cover the whole hive. This can mask the smell of honey and also confuse the bees trying to get in. Be sure to leave a small entrance in the sheet so your own bees can get in and out, as well as not suffocate. As I mentioned in a previous blog, robbing season might be a good time to paint the outside of your hives, if that is maintenance you do.
When protecting your beehive from robbers, the main point is to mask the smell of honey. Bees can smell honey from a long distance. I’m not sure if there is a definite exact answer as to how far away a bee can smell, but I have read and heard it said that bees can “sense” honey (and wax and flowers) from over 1 mile away.
For more ideas, visit Honey Bee Suite: Rusty Burlew at Honey Bee Suite has great information about protecting your hive from robber bees.
Now you’re “in the know”. This is a good time to research robbing season, what it looks like, and how to counter or ward off an invasion of those thieving honey thieves.
