Peter:
You said/asked: frames from CCD dead outs ... are not robbed out, ...are the
bees that are still left in the vicinity foraging normally, willing to take
up syrup from other sources ?
Simple answer - yes. Although, one of the early signs of CCD seems to be
that affected colonies will not take feed - syrup or pollen substitute.
I've seen this lack of robbing in FL, CA, and had a long talk with a TX
beekeeper who saw the same. CCD apiaries usually have some apparently normal
colonies, and many locations had other unaffected apiaries within 200-400
yards. Deadouts within the unaffected beeyards were being robbed, while deadouts
in the nearby CCD beeyard were ignored.
Eventually - 2-3 weeks, the robbers and pests show up. CCD deadouts and CCD
colonies with very weak populations (queen and some young bees) were not
being robbed and there were virtually no hive beetles or wax moths. Yet, the
best colonies in the same beeyards had hive beetles - lots of them in some of
the FL yards.
In Texas, tops of hives were removed, honey frames pulled up and left
throughout the yard like so many flags in a field. After 1 week, no robbing (this
one was described to me by the beekeeper).
In CA, piles of boxes with 30-40 # of honey sat untouched, while deadouts in
a stockpile yard 400 yards away were robbed clean. After a month, the piles
of boxes were robbed.
Late in the spring, CCD deadouts that I saw in CA were not robbed UNTIL the
boxes were opened, inspected. Even then, robbing was sluggish. So, there's
some seasonal differences -- they will be robbed in prime robbing season -
but you've almost got to start the process, even if the deadouts have been
sitting for some time.
Jerry
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