What are the solutions when robbing occurs in Chinese honey bee (Apis cerana) beekeeping?

The Chinese honey bee has a keen sense of smell and is prone to robbing. If not controlled in time, it will not only cause chaos in the order of the entire apiary's bees, but also consume feed and cause losses to colonies. So if these phenomena occur, how should they be solved and prevented? Let's take a look together below.

1. Selection of apiary site and arrangement of colonies

For colonies kept through small migratory beekeeping, first choose a site with good nectar source conditions to place the bees. There should be a distance of 1-2 km between the two apiaries; do not place colonies on the flight line of a neighboring apiary, so as to avoid robbing after the nectar flow ends and the nectar supply is cut off. The arrangement of the hives should be based on the terrain, with single hives placed facing different directions. The colonies should not be too close to each other, because the Chinese honey bee has poor orientation ability and is likely to enter the wrong hive, thus causing robbing.

2. Stopping sporadic robbing

If sporadic robber bees are found, the entrance should be narrowed, and some weeds or a few wooden boards should be placed at the hive entrance to conceal the entrance, so that the worker bees of the colony can still go in and out, while robber bees have greater difficulty entering. Water can also be sprayed at the hive entrance or a little kerosene applied to drive away robber bees. When necessary, the entrance can be closed and the hive placed in a cool place, then the entrance opened at night. In addition, the positions of the robbing colony and the robbed colony can be swapped.

3. Strengthening colony management

Under normal circumstances, especially when nectar sources are lacking, the Chinese honey bee entrance should be narrowed, hives and beekeeping tools should be well managed, leaks should be plugged, and full inspections should not be carried out. When inspection is needed, the time should not be too long. Honey from the combs must not be dropped on the ground or in the hive, and honey combs must not be placed in front of the hive. After inspection, the hive cover should be tightly closed. When feeding colonies, honey syrup must not be spilled outside the hive. Before the nectar flow ends, promptly remove empty combs so that the number of bees matches the number of combs, and leave enough feed. The removed empty combs should be stored tightly. After extracting honey, the site and tools should be cleaned thoroughly to prevent causing robbing.

Before the nectar flow ends, queenless colonies and weak colonies should be merged in time, or measures to strengthen them should be taken promptly, because weak colonies have poor ability to resist robber bees.

4. Stopping mutual robbing

After individual colonies begin robbing, if robbing develops throughout the entire apiary, before the bees leave the hive in the morning, block the entrance with iron gauze and open a round entrance on the other side of the hive. If robber bees crowd at the original entrance, smoke can be blown in. After 2-3 days, remove the iron gauze, close the entrance, and let each colony become familiar with the new entrance. A simple anti-robbing device can also be installed at the entrance. The anti-robbing device can be made of iron gauze, with one end inserted into the hive and the other end protruding one cun outside the hive. If it still cannot be stopped, use the method of moving the colonies away to end the robbing.

5. Stopping large-scale robbing

If large-scale robbing occurs, quickly block the entrance. For robber bees flying about in confusion, blow in thick smoke. After 1 hour, open the entrance, let the robber bees out, and then close it again. At night, open the entrances of the robbing colonies and the robbed colonies, and at the same time use the method of moving hives: move the robbed colonies elsewhere and place an empty box in the original location. The robber bees enter the empty box, find no honey to rob, and the robbing is naturally resolved.

6. Italian bees robbing Chinese honey bees

When Chinese honey bee colonies rob each other, they generally do not kill the queen and cause the colony to be destroyed. However, if Italian bees from nearby Italian bee apiaries come to rob Chinese honey bees, special attention must be paid. Because the guard bees at the entrance of Chinese honey bee colonies often lose vigilance toward the robbing Italian bees and do not fight them, Italian bee workers can relatively easily enter Chinese honey bee colonies and quickly seize stored honey and kill the queen of the Chinese honey bee colony, causing the entire colony to be destroyed. In late autumn in areas north of the Yangtze River, losses caused by Italian bees robbing Chinese honey bees are especially serious at this time. If such robbing occurs and cannot be controlled, the Chinese honey bee apiary should quickly relocate to escape the robbing by Italian bees.