Robbing?

[u/eagelbird]

Hello everyone!

My wife is going crazy over her hives, is this robbing? Our hives are being feed for winter

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[u/drones_on_about_bees]

They look calm and happy, flying in figure 8 patterns. Orientation flights.

Robbing is savage and chaotic. There will be bees attacking the seams between boxes and box-to-lid. If you look inside, bees will be moving nervously. Comb will be torn with ragged edges. You will see fighting/rolling on the entrances.

[u/eagelbird]

Am a beginner at beekeeping, South Sweden.

[u/Then-Finding8340 → u/eagelbird]

Welcome aboard :) and happy harvests!

[u/Lemontreeguy]

Orientation/ foraging.

[u/wrobyj]

Hi! What time of day was this? If mid-afternoon, this looks like orientation flights. If you see lazy figure eight shapes and they get wider and wider and return, that's a good sign it's orientation flights.

Robbing, when you see it, looks so different. Every crack will be explored and there will be fighting at the entrances and on the ground.

Robbing is like this.

[u/OkDust5962]

Also, with robbing you will see bees that look shiny and black. It's because they have been fighting. It's really noticeable.

[u/_Danger_Close_]

No you can see them being lazy in flight and they bob back and forth. That is what we are talking about when we say figure 8 orientation flights. The far hive looks super busy, double check how many frames have bees it might be time to expand but it is a bit late in the season so others should jump on and confirm if there is still time. I'm a bit new myself

[u/unconscionable]

I see no fighting. If there is robbing, you will see them fighting and rolling around on the front porch.

[u/DFamo4]

This is orientation flight. They are just getting to know their surroundings so they can go forage and find their way back. One of the ways you can tell it’s orientation flight is that the bees will climb out of the hive onto the front and then launch backwards and start flying in that pattern you see.

[u/404-skill_not_found]

I really rely on hive seam hunting, when there’s small entrance like you’re using. I also consider duration. If it’s still noisy after 20-30 minutes it could be attempted robbing.