Bee theft is a fairly common problem. Beekeepers need to carefully monitor the apiary, especially in spring and autumn, when bees have nowhere to get honey from. Most often, this problem concerns young bezelless families that lack an organized nest structure.
Causes of the phenomenon
Typically, theft of bees occurs in young and inexperienced beekeepers, leaving the hives open for a long time. Also, a regular pouring of honey or sugar syrup and forgetting the frames with honey in a visible place leads to this course of events.
Other factors leading to bee theft:
- lack of a bribe;
- defenselessness of young and weak families;
- hereditary habits: the family has long been producing food using this method;
- during the absence of honey collection, the nest becomes spacious and open-air;
- the presence of a large number of cracks in the hives;
- non-observance of precautions when examining bees by a beekeeper;
- the presence of a nearby apiary with a large number of honey cells and their scraps, feeders;
- feeding bees during the flyby period.
The problem of theft can be encountered during honey collection. This is caused by the presence of inappropriate conditions in the hive: poor ventilation, strong heating. As a result of this, a saturated smell of nectar emanates from the hive, which attracts thief bees.
Signs of theft
Noticing the presence of a thief bee is easy. At the next inspection of the hives, the beekeeper may detect the following suspicious signs:
- The presence of bees with a zigzag pattern of flight. At the same time, they emit a loud buzz, as when collecting pollen.
- Thief bees penetrate the hive through a notch and crevices, avoid encounters with other bees.
- Such bees have a black body with worn hairs.
- When thieves attack, the bees very quickly rush towards the arrival board and fly around it.
- The presence of bees killed by a sting.
- During the defense of their hive from attack, a large number of insects die. Pickers during this period stop their sorties.
- Bees with stolen honey when flying out of hives fly low, and then gradually rise up.
- There are regular evening battles between thieves and defenders.
To identify a thief bee, you must click on the abdomen of a suspected insect: in the presence of stolen honey, it will splash out of the proboscis in the form of nectar. After the affected beehive is open, all thieves will start to buzz loudly and fly up. They will lose the reflex to smoke and the ability to sting.
The robbed bee family becomes aggressive and irritable: trying to defend themselves, they sting everyone. Losses can be noticed at the first glance: sealed honey will be perforated, there will be a lot of wax waste and no brood.
The need to prevent theft in bees
This problem requires an urgent solution, because subsequently, it can lead to large losses: loss of food, death of the uterus or entire families. Enraged families can simply fly away from the hive. Also, the thief bee is the carrier of various diseases.
Often members of robbed families join thief families. Then they all attack the next hive. After some time, all the families in the apiary are robbed. The problem can cover all bee colonies within a radius of 2 km.
Methods of combating theft of bees
Standard events
First of all, you must adhere to the basic rules for the prevention of bee theft:
- Do not open the hives too often.
- Follow all the hive workflows in the evening.
- At the first sign of theft, immediately transfer the work to another place.
- Before carrying out the workflow, collect a bucket of water and regularly rinse your hands and tools in it.
- Do not inspect the nests for a long time, remove the honeycomb only as a last resort.
- Use frames where the upper slats are covered with a canvas dipped in water. Bees do not like canvas with water, so thieves will not sit on it. And even through this canvas from the hive does not leak the smell of honey.
- Use a water-damped canvas when inspecting extensions and frames.
- Narrow the tap hole before removing the cover from the hive.
After you notice signs of theft, stop all examinations and pumping out honey. Take away all the equipment smelling of honey from the apiary.
Check the summers and shorten them: leave a passage for 1-2 bees in weak families, for 2-4 bees in medium uterine-free families and in fungible families, half in strong families.
Typically, these measures help eliminate theft in the early stages. But if the thief bees did not calm down, then you should turn to the help of additional methods:
- break the branches of wormwood and put them on the flying boards at the entrance;
- grease the arrival boards with kerosene;
- place a piece of glass obliquely to the hive.
When using the above tricks, their bees will fly into the hive, bypassing all obstacles, and the thief bees will lose their orientation and stop stealing in the apiary.
If these techniques did not work, the family to be robbed should be removed from the apiary and put in another place. You can take it to the basement for a day, and then return it to its original place.
Combating theft of bees with the help of a red light flashlight
The use of red light makes it possible to pump out honey, overlap and reduce nests, dry stores and heat treatment at night. Red light soothes bees and makes them peaceful.
In the case of using this method, daytime work is not required (which attracts thieves), as well as the use of masks and smoke to deter aggressive bees.
How to get rid of thief bees using a regular tube?
Close the notch and insert the tube (diameter up to 10 mm) into the passage. After the thief bees penetrate the hive, they will not be able to get back. Wait for a large number of pests to gather in the hive, and transport it to another location. After some time, the strangers will settle in and begin to work together with the new family.
Getting rid of thief bees with salt
In the morning, before sunrise, close the slots in all bee families. Pour a thick layer of sodium chloride onto the arrivals and roofs. After landing on the flight board, the aliens immediately fly away: all the thief bees will fly away within an hour. After that, remove all the salt and wash the boards and roofs well, open the doors to the desired size.
Other methods of combating theft of bees
You can use special moving film covers. They are transparent and stretched on a special rectangular frame. Before you begin the inspection, you must install a tent in which the hive is placed.
Experienced beekeepers recommend using protective equipment: diesel fuel, kerosene, dill essential oil, creolin. Coat the front wall of the hive with one of them and narrow the entrance to the passage of one bee. The procedure is performed several times.
If there is a fierce struggle between bees, you can sprinkle them with flour. This will help determine the flight path of thieves. Smoke their beehive: the bees will be wary, they will start to protect their food and forget about theft.
If the attacks of the stealing bees do not stop, cover the hives with hay and leave only a small hole in the notch. Thus, the thieves who made their way into the hive through the hay get entangled and fly away, the newly arrived pests lose their orientation due to the changed picture and fly away in the opposite direction.
You can build a special boardwalk. Its length should be about 50 cm and a width of 25 cm. The upper part of the corridor is covered with a net, and the opposite side with a notch barrier. The corridor should be set at dawn, which will help the bees adapt to the new entrance. Thieves do not like long entrances, therefore they will not penetrate such hives.
If the scale of theft has spread to neighboring apiaries, be sure to transfer all the hives to other places at a distance of at least 5 km. Do not forget to check if there is enough honey nearby.
Recovery of a bee family after theft
First of all, shorten the notches to the passage of one bee. Barricade them with a bar: when departing from the hive, thieves will hit their head on him and die.
Then cover with paper tape or seal with clay solution all the possible places for the penetration of bee thieves (cracks, gaps at the joints of the cases). Lubricate the front wall and the arrival board with kerosene and cover the letok with wet grass. To eliminate the smell of honey and scare away strangers, spray the walls and tap hole with water.
If all this does not help, then take the hive for 2-3 days to the cellar. Provide the necessary amount of water for the bees: pour 0.7 liters of water into a dry frame and serve in the hive. In place of the hive removed, place an empty hive with a rag soaked in kerosene. To switch thief bees from theft to work, open a few hundred in their hive.
When inspecting hives in the spring, use a tent for inspections: it will prevent overcooling of weak families and the emergence of theft in a lethal time.
Prevention of theft in bees
In the early spring, during the period of honey selection and the absence of honey collection, theft can be avoided if the following rules are observed:
- open the door according to the strength of the bee family and weather conditions;
- work with beehives very carefully: you must not allow the spill of honey and sugar syrup into or near the hive;
- Do not leave the hive open for a long time;
- inspect hives quickly, but without rushing;
- exclude the presence of weak bezelless families in the apiary: combine them with equivalent or stronger families;
- use separate feeders for each family.
The problem of theft in bees is quite common. It must be resolved as quickly as possible before it leads to irreversible consequences. With the onset of the period of honey collection, the intensity of theft decreases or completely stops.