dead bees

[gadzooks]

This is my first winter with my bees, I noticed activity outside the hive several weeks ago when the temperatures were in the high 60s or low 70s. The weather took a cold turn with snow and ice recently, and today I went outside to make sure ice or snow wasn't blocking the entrance reducer. I noticed several dead bees, which I understand is normal, and I cleared them away. I could see several more blocking the entrance, so I started to remove the entrance reducer to clear out the dead bees -- then I noticed a thick (emphasis on thick) pile of dead bees. Is this normal?

[Michael Bush]

If the weather has been cold for a while it is normal for there to be a lot of dead bees on the bottom board because it's too cold for burial duty. In a strong hive after a warm day the dead bees should have been cleared out. If there is a pile that is not cleared out after a nice day I figure there is a problem.

You may or may not have a problem and you can't tell until the weather warms up.

Good news will keep. Bad news won't go away. There isn't anything you can do about it right now.

[John Seets]

For what its worth, I have noticed that the winter kill numbers for hives that were treated for Varroa the previous fall are ALWAYS significantly higher than those hives that were not treated.

Thanx.

[maple]

I too had a similar experience this morning at my one and only hive ..... although there weren't a LOT of dead bees.......... the thing that worries me is I didn't HEAR any noise as in a hum from the hive .....
should I always hear a hum ?

[Michael Bush]

If there are only a few bees left and things are quite and cold sometimes they are hard to hear, but, yes, there is ALWAYS a hum if there are bees alive.

[AstroBee]

I've been monitoring my hives throughout the winter by placing my ear against the hive body and very lightly taping the side of the hive with my fingernail. Until yesterday, I would hear the bees mildly react to the tap. The one hive that didn't respond was indeed dead. It was small going into winter, but I thought that they would make it because we "typically" have very mild winters. This winter has been an exception! Hopefully the rest of my hives will fare better.