> It also requires robbing bees.  Something I see little of until the hive is so far gone that there is no way there are that many mites ready to bail.

In his article in the September 1945 issue of The American Bee Journal, Dr. C. L. Farrar calls attention to progressive robbing.

> Not all robbing is obvious. There is a form of robbing called "progressive robbing" where bees enter other hives at unguarded points and carry off feed without any obvious fighting.  -- Allen Dick

> Robbing behavior may also be more insidious than the overt invasion of a weak colony by a strong colony. Dr. Wyatt Mangum detailed the sneaky "progressive robbing" of one colony by another. Such robbing would constitute an insidious drain upon the victim colony. In areas of high colony population density, I suspect that robbing pressure–at times other than during major honey flows–is a limiting factor in colony density. -- Randy Oliver


PLB

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