Thanks, Gene,

I have added my robber screens and will hope that makes a difference without interfering too much with the foragers. For robber screens, I have some with two gates by Brushy Mountain, and some that I built from the plans by Dr. Eric C. Mussen at UC Davis. In my current search through the Bee-L archives, I also found a suggestion to just use screen to cover the entrance except for a small center entrance (posted by James Fischer). That certainly would be the easiest to have on hand.  

The work yard has been empty the last few days, so I hope that calms down the guards as well. If they are still an issue, I will figure out which hive(s) and requeen or move them as a last resort (that would mean finding another location for an apiary, and at this time in my life, I'm hoping it doesn't come to that).

For my next inspections, I will be careful to pick the best weather and keep bees calm. We are in the middle of our short nectar flow here in Maryland, and I know all my colonies have good stores at present. I'll need to inspect for queens in my splits, but the others I should just need to monitor for space until I harvest.

In my search through the archives, I also came across the 1930's Beekeeping series on Youtube posted by Peter Borst. That is the way to keep bees. We need to dress better.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7F5u7Uqt1U&list=PLw11sOYPRLozN-wNmwDPSw6uIwC7zqBmP 

The Bee-L archives are a treasure. Thanks all!

Debbie in Maryland

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