واجهتني مشكلة اصدقائي في منحلي وهي السرقة بين الطوائف فبحثت في النت عن هكذا موضوع ووجدت هذا الموضوع واعتذر عن ترجمته لضيق الوقت يمكن استخدام مترجم غوغل او الوافي او الكافي لترجمته وهو برايي رائع

Robber Bees
By Khalil Hamdan
Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
Honeybees laboriously gather their food (nectar and pollen) from flowers in
bloom and store it in the hive for use when needed. When nectar sources are
scarce or unavailable locally they are attracted by honey in neighbouring
hives. They make raids on hives that are unable to defend themselves and
steal their honey or sugar syrup. This behaviour of thievery as opposed to the
customary colony gathering nectar for itself is termed robbing in Apiculture.
Robber Bees’ Behaviour
Generally, robbing occurs especially during a dearth of nectar. Bees will never
rob during a nectar flow and as long as an abundance of nectar is available in
the field. Robbing intensity depends upon the availability of natural sources
of food, the more scarce or unavailable nectar become, the more the intensity
of robbing increases. It is the strong colonies that make onslaughts on the
weak ones or those that are poorly guarded (have few guards). The robber
bees are the forager bees. They are after honey – they do not steal pollen.
The tendency to rob varies with the race and strain. The Italian bees are
particularly much more prone to rob than the brown or black races.
Robbing may occur between colonies in one apiary or colonies of different
apiaries. Sometimes it is possible to see several colonies in the apiary robbing
one another simultaneously.
Robbing behaviour is usually more aggressive than normal and can develop
into deadly fighting and the destruction of a hive.
Robber bees are nervous, noisy, and fly timidly and shiftily. They alight
cautiously on the alighting board at the entrance, and dodge when the guards
catch them.
Robbing starts with the robbers forcing their way into a hive, taking their fill
of honey/sugar syrup, and flying off. Upon returning to their hive they alert
their hive mates to the honey source and taste and recruit a large number of
bees to take advantage of this honey. The recruited bees are attracted to the
scent of honey which is emitted from the entrance of the hive or any open
spaces between supers. They frantically hover up and down before the
entrance attempting to enter the hive. When robbers are about the local bees
will be actively on guard chasing away intruders who seek entrance. Combats
will take place between the robbers and the defenders of the hive leading to
the death of a large number of bees from both colonies.
Should the robbers succeed in overpowering a colony, they will strip it of all
its honey; they rip the caps off the honey in the combs and sip the honey,
leaving the surface torn and messy.
After a colony once has succeeded in robbing honey, it may again continue to
rob from weak, nearby hives.
Times and Situations Leading to Robbing
- During periods of dearth, and food shortage in the hives.
- In the spring before the main nectar flow, between nectar flows, and
occurs more often in late summer and autumn.
- After the cessation of a nectar flow.
- When all the harvest is done and honey supers are removed.
- Careless feeding (splashing syrup or honey about to the outside of the hive
or the ground).
- Feeding bees watered down honey or sugar syrup.
- Feeding essential oils during a dearth of nectar may incite robbing.
- Feeding weak colonies in daytime with sugar syrup provokes bees from
adjoining colonies to rob the syrup.
- Prolonged inspection of a colony with combs of honey during a period of
nectar shortage, or having hives open for too long during manipulation.
Bees are immediately attracted when a hive is opened and honey supers
are exposed
- Exposing frames of honey outside the hive.
- Robbing may start in the apiary if supers are left uncovered when the
harvest is removed.
- Leaky hives.
- Weak colonies and nuclei or queenless hives are usually subjected to
robbing.
- Giving sticky honeycombs after extracting process back to the bees to
clean up the remaining honey still stuck to the cells wall. Bees are highly
attracted to the scent of recently extracted honeycombs.
- Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is an excellent opportunity for robbing.
Dangers of Robbing
Robbing disrupts colonies, increases the aggressiveness of bees and can
cause the stinging of people and livestock in the area. It can badly weaken or
even destroy a colony. Colonies that are victimized cannot grow in strength
and have little chance to survive in the winter. A colony that has lost all its
honey and syrup by robber bees will quickly perish of hunger. In extreme
robbing, queens are often attacked and killed.
Robber bees are the most dangerous disease spreader, especially of AFB, as
they will take germs home if they are robbing a diseased colony. Robbing also
poses a danger to queen mating yards, as it may result in the loss of
numerically weak nuclei and young queens.
Robbing is a bad habit and the beekeeper should not keep a colony that shows
a strong tendency to robbery. It is worth requeening it from a more docile
colony.
Signs of Robbing
• There are plenty of bees hovering around hunting in all cracks and in front
of the hive entrance looking for a chance to get in.
• On first approaching a hive, the robber bees sway back and forth in front of
the hive who wish to rob.
• Robber bees are distinguished by their loud buzzing.
• Guard bees are unusually active defending their hive.
• Occasional clashes at the entrance.
• Dead bees in the front of the hive.
• Many bees entering and leaving the hive being robbed in haste.
• Wax bits seen at hive entrance.
Note: On approaching the hive to be robbed, robber bees fly with legs
extended behind, when coming out of the hive with honey load, they fly with
hind legs bent forward, they do not fly as ordinarily bees do because of the
weight; instead they fly downward near the ground before rising.
Hive is being robbed. Robber bees are trying to find a way
to get in and steal the honey they smell inside the hive.
Photo courtesy Terry Small
Guard bees attack a robber.
Photo credit: BasicLiving.com
Preventive Measures
Prevention is the best treatment for robbing. It is much easier to avert
robbing rather than to stop it after it has started. There are several means of
preventing or minimizing robbing.
• Avoid situations that lead to robbing.
• The best defence against robbing is to have strong colonies. Equalize
colonies’ strength and keep your colonies as strong as possible. Robbing
behaviour is rare if all colonies are kept strong. Weak colonies can be
boosted by transferring some emerging brood combs from a strong hive
and shaking off some nurse bees from the strong hive into the weak one. A
weak colony that is slow to build up can be combined with a strong colony.
• Reduce the size of entrance of weak colonies. Weak colonies cannot defend
their entrances, and are usually the victims. A small opening allows the
guard bees a better chance of fending off robbers.
• When a dearth is setting in, reduce the entrances on all hives.
• When feeding, great care must be taken not to spill syrup around,
especially during periods of dearth. Spilled syrup or honey should be
cleaned up immediately. Feed in the evening after the bees have ceased
flying for the day. The food must be placed in the hive. By that time there
is no risk of robbing, as bees from other hives are not driven by instinct to
gather food.
• Do not allow honey to drip from uncapped frames or broken combs down
the sides of the hive or into the ground. If stranger bees find a drop of
honey, they sense a food source and in a trice will be buzzing around
looking for food. They can fly into the open hive and rob it.
• In times of scarcity of nectar, do not keep a hive open long, or robbing may
be the result.
• Avoid manipulating hives during dearth periods.
• During harvesting, work fast and never leave honeycombs exposed.
• Make sure that hives are bee-tight. Bees can pass through holes with 0.4
cm (5/32”) in diameter or more. Close cracks or holes in the hive bodies
with adhesive tape.
• Weak colonies and Nuclei must always be guarded as they are usually
vulnerable to robbing. Contract the entrances to 2,5 cm (1 inch) or less to
hinder robbing.
• Watch out for robber bees in late summer and autumn.
• If bees start to rob a hive during manipulation, stop work immediately and
reduce the entrance to only one or two bee spaces and wait until another
day.
Nucleus protected with a robber screen while it is being fed.
Photo by Randall Austin
This photo shows the results of leaving boxes of honey
unprotected in the apiary when the harvest is removed.
Photo by Richard Underhill
How to Stop Robber Bees
When robbing has commenced, prompt action must be taken to stop it. Here
are some ways to stop it and help the colony that is being robbed.
1. Reduce the entrance of the hive being robbed allowing only one or two
bees to pass in or out at a time so the attacked hive has a better chance of
defending itself.
2. Stuff grass or straw into the entrance and leave it for a day or two. The
robbers cannot get in and eventually give up. Remove the grass when the
robbing has stopped.
A hive entrance being stuffed with grass to stop robbing.
Photo by Sara Dunham
3. Another way of deterring robbers is to hang a wet sack in the front of the
hive.
4. Set up a piece of glass, board or mesh wire before the reduced entrance in
a sloping position to allow space around the sides for exit and entry of the
hive occupants. This confuses the robbers. They will keep beating
themselves against the glass and eventually will get tired of trying and
give up.
5. Install the entrance with an anti-robbing screen. This tool stops the
robbers from entering the hive through the entrance, and allows sufficient
ventilation. The robbers who are attracted to the scent of the hive keep
bouncing away at the screen and eventually give up. The bees of the hive
leave and enter through the opening on top of screen. The robbing screen
is also used for stopping wasps and transferring bees.
Anti Robbing screen for use on Beehive Entrance.
Photo credit: bushfarms. com
A hive with robbing screen.
Photo by Toni Burnham
6. Some beekeepers reduce the entrance dramatically, preferably with screen
wire and spray the alighting board of the victimized hive with a salt
solution. The robbers will resent it and return to their own hive. Some use
Vicks Vaporub around the entrance to confuse the robbers from
approaching the hive because they cannot smell the hive.
7. Spray robbers with water using a garden hose to help slow robbing.
8. Some beekeepers recommend taking the covers off the robber hive and
dredge generously with flour, thus causing the bees to engage in cleaning
the flour and defending their own hive rather than be out robbing others.
To identify the robbing colony, sprinkle with flour a few of the robbers at
the entrance of the robbed hive, and determine where the floured robbers
go.
9. If one hive is attacking another persistently, put the robber hive on the
stand of the robbed hive and vice versa. This baffles the robbers and at the
end of the day robbing will cease.
10. In severe robbing remove either the robbed hive or the hive of robbers to a
distant site at least a mile away for few days.
Note: It is not recommended to resort to the use of chemical repellents at the
entrance of a hive to keep robbing bees away, for instance, Carbolic acid or
phenol. Carbolic acid is rough on the bees. Both the bees living in the hive and
the robbing bees would not like the odour. Since it is at the entrance, it can be
fanned out by the bees inside the hive, but that vapour trail is going to override
the odour of the hive, which the field bees use to find the entrance of
their own hive.