Two down - Eight left

[PerryBee]

It was warm enough a couple of days ago that the bees were having their constitutionals and I noticed little activity around no#1 and #2. I opened them up yesterday and they were done. These hives were two deeps and there are full frames of honey and pollen in the upper boxes of both hives. I found very small ( handful or two ) of dead bees sitting on the top bars of the upper boxes and the bottom boards were covered with bees. I treated all my hives with Miteaway II in Sept. and saw brood after I removed the pads in Oct. I then treated with Oxalic ( vapourization ) in Nov. and thought all should be OK. There is a small amount of capped brood and you could see where some of the bees died as they were emerging. Also a few spots where bees are dead head first in the cells. There was plenty of stores so I don't know how they could starve. I have sealed these hives up, should I bring them into the basement and clean the frames up ( remove the head first bees from their cells ? ) or should I just leave the hives outside and as I put these frames into other hives or do a split in the spring, let the bees do it themselves ? One other thing, I noticed in both these hives a heavy concentration of a white crystalin area on a couple of frames, could I have killed the queens in these two hives with the Oxalic ? Thanks

[Chef Isaac]

I would bring them into the basement. Clean any burr comb and spray the frames with BT. Stack them and get ready for the upcoming season.

It is hard to loose hives. I hate it but one piece of advice that a beekeeper told me was that do not take it personally as those hives should have been the ones you combined. Some say survival is a trait you want to have around.

[PerryBee]

Bt ?????

[sqkcrk]

The one 5 frame nuc that I still have in NY is alive and looks like it is doing well. We have had unusually warm temperatures and high winds lately, so I found it again and looked inside to see bees between three frames. Now if it just lasts until April it should be in good shape for pollination. The rest of my colonies are in South Carolina.

[ScadsOBees]

It happened to me 2 years ago. Lost all 3 queens late fall (I found out in the spring). Lost 2 of the hives, the third barely made it with an early requeen and tiny cluster.

Any old torn queen cells that could have been from the fall?

As long as it is cold outside, I would leave them there. If you bring them in then it is warmer and things grow where it is warmer. You can probably use the leftover stores on one of the other hives that may be low.

Rick

[Jeffzhear]

The one 5 frame nuc that I still have in NY is alive and looks like it is doing well. We have had unusually warm temperatures and high winds lately, so I found it again and looked inside to see bees between three frames. Now if it just lasts until April it should be in good shape for pollination. The rest of my colonies are in South Carolina.

Those nice days, in the 50's and 60's were great here along the NY/PA border...All my hives looked good...cept the one late season combine of two Aug/Sept swarms which didn't make it (didn't think they would).