In a message dated 11/9/99 3:14:51 PM Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< In addition to Jorn's comments which I endorse, another reason for not
 feeding bees in the open is consideration of your neighbours.  If the honey
 is exposed close to the apiary the scout bees will advertise this by using
 their round dance which is not specific for distance or direction.  Until the
 bees home in on the honey they may well annoy your neighbours by looking for
 sweet things in their houses and gardens. >>

   I've also seen robbing bees get REAL snotty. A friend had bees in his
apiary robbing, and the owner's two kids on four-wheelers came by (something
they often did), and they were badly stung up.  He lost the location.

   I don't think it is ever a good idea to get bees robbing, fighting with
one another, etc.  If I want wet supers cleaned I take them to an isolated
bee yard with only one hive in it.  But even that has risks.

    I don't have room in my honey house for wet supers. As soon as they are
finished, they go outside. But they go under a net, so robbing doesn't get
started. If the bees start, around the honey house, they WILL find a way into
the building.  Then they become a royal nuisance, with dead bees in honey
tanks and jars, droppings on everything, etc. And visitors can get stung.

Dave Green    Hemingway, SC   USA
The Pollination Home Page:     http://www.pollinator.com
The Pollination Scene:   http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html

Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop    (Varietal Honeys