twlankford
06-25-2008, 04:13 PM
I found several dead bees on the ground in front of my best hive. It had the most bees and produced the most honey this year and was one of the few that did not swarm. I even took a split from it the day I found the bees to give to a friend. Any ideas?
alpha6
06-25-2008, 05:19 PM
"Several" would be normal. Sounds like a strong hive.
Brent Bean
06-25-2008, 06:12 PM
Workers only live six to eight weeks this time of year so in a strong hive, it could experience a large number of normal attrition. One chore for workers is taking out the dead, also know as undertaker bees. Sometimes if the weather has been raining they get behind, and when opportunity presents itself they will leave them on the landing board or just dump them in front of the hive.
When you see piles of dead then you have problem, like they got into a sprayed field. By then all you can do is watch the carnage.
But don’t sound like you have anything to worry about :)