Every drop of honey was robbed from this hive, I don't know how much, I hadn't checked this hive in a few weeks, but there was probably plenty. After the robbing was done, after the bees gave up and left, I dismantled the hive, removing the top three boxes and placed a frame of honey in to avoid starvation. The population of the hive had been reduced drastically. There was a pile of dead bees in front of it more than an inch thick.
One of the changes I'm making due to this occurrence is to begin to place bees in outyards. I'm developing a custom pallet in order to have four hive units that can be moved to other places. The first one I have lined up is my church's farm where they need a little pollination. It's also where I hope to sell nucs retail style in the future. I'm going to try to limit my home yard to ten hives. If all works well, perhaps I can move beyond sixteen total hives in the future.
