what triggers robbing?

[rober]

i know a weak queenless hive is ripe for robbing but what sets it off? i'm wondering if i may have triggered it. my recent activities have been........treating 2 hives for mites( mite awat ) & a powder sugar drop on 1 hive. on the hive being robbed i added a buttery oil covered board to do a mite count & filled a feeder. the feeder is a division board feeder in an empty super on top of the inner cover. i closed the robbed hive off after dark last night. i plan to combine it by doing a newspaper combine with another weak hive.

[Michael Bush]

>what triggers robbing?

Usually feeding in a dearth... or just a dearth...  queenlessness seems to contribute as well...

[rober]

thanks michael......i guess the other variables were coincidental.

[Michael Bush]

http://bushfarms.com/beesrobbing.htm

[kathyp]

i have found that if i put food on all hives, the robbing problem is not an issue.  i have 3 that need feeding right now, but i have put food on all and there is no robbing.  in the past, i have only put food on those needing it and have had problems. 

the syrup will not be wasted because i'll take that unfed syrup from those not using it and put it on those that need it.  fresh on those that have not taken it.  in the end, it all seems to even out.