How many dead bees behind entrance reducer are normal?

[space bee]

I took off the entrance reducer on my tbh today and scooped out about 3/4 to 1 cup full of dead bees. How many are normal this time of year? It's been cold here with thawing spells in between.

[mistergil]

It's most likely nothing to be alarmed about. I routinely find a few dead on the alighting boards if it is not too cold and also see some dead ones if I look back into the entrance. Haven't looked since this warm spell began so they may have already cleaned them up. Don't like to open them up this time of year unless it's an emergency as they're pretty well sealed up.

[Joel]

1 cup of dead bees this early in the winter would cause me some concern, 1/2 cup none. A couple of questions that come to mind would be are you overestimating the amount, when did you put the reducers in and are there more in any amount that have been pulled out on warm days and deposited in front of the hive? Any problems at this stage of the game, other than feed, are not likely to get resolved. For you own peace of mind I would heft the hive and see if feels heavy or light. If it's light you should look at the different methods on threads here to supply feed. If they are heavy and and it was a strong hive it might be the normal transitional die off backed up behind the reduce r if you put it on early, say October (which you should). There is a normal die off from the end of the summer bees to the winter cluster, born through the middle of October.

If you applied the appropriate fall treatmens and made sure the hives were well stored, you'll still worry about the girls all winter, that's part of it. Just have faith you've done all you can and rest is up to mother nature.

[MIKI]

I hope you saved the dead bees, examine them for signs of age the older bees will be darker and you should see some with some pretty beat up wings, this is normal die off as they go into winter cluster. If you see signs of PMS i.e. deformed wing virus then you have a problem!

[buckbee]

This hadn't occurred to me before, but it illustrates one of the advantages of midway, side entrances, especially when the hive is raised on legs: mice cannot get near the entrance, therefore there is no need to reduce them with mouse guards, therefore no trapped, dead bees to fester and spread disease.

http://www.biobees.com/images/build_top_bar_hive/index.php?start=31

[space bee]

I scooped out a whole bunch of dead bees again from behind the entrance reducer today, and since it was a pretty mild day decided to peak in. As I lifted the lid, a live mouse looked back at me from on top of the bars. While trying to block of the space where it could get back into the hive I had to set the lid down. I found out later that accidentally killed the mouse.... I took a quick peak inside between the bars and the mouse had done a lot of damage. Took the nest apart and shoved it out of the bees way, there were no little ones I could see. I did see some very much alive bees though. On the next warmer day I'll try and clean this up a little better. Just hope this will help the bees get through the rest of the winter in peace and quiet! (Not sure how the mouse got in in the first place since I put the reducer on early and after checking the whole hive thoroughly to make sure mice hadn't taken up residence yet. Maybe it got in through one of the ventilation spaces). Glad I checked now!

[Hobie]

I suspect if some bees had been attacking the mouse, that could account for a higher number of dead bees.