At risk of providing too much on this topic: I was just out tipping a few boxes. Light robbing is happening. Of course things are proceeding nicely. I'll go and pick up the boxes in a few minutes -- they are in the home yard. I realised that I discussed conditions where there would be a flow, or conditions where there would be robbing, but did not explicitly state that: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Tipping _will not work_ if the bees are not flying freely! ------------------------------------------------------------------- The reason: If they have not flown for a few days, they will not know where to go when and if they do fly up, and as a result abandonment will fail. Bees forget where home is in as short a time as a day or two at some times of year, and it is a safe bet that after three days of confinement or low flight activity, most will not remember their hive location. Someof these things are so much second nature to me that it is hard to remember to explain every little detail. Sorry if anyone ran into difficulty. Feel free to ask if you have problems understanding my explanations.. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:[log in to unmask] & [log in to unmask] Honey. Bees, & Art <http://www.internode.net/~allend/>