What happened to my hive?

[pains_72]

Hi Everyone,

I am a fairly new beekeeper. I installed a package in a hive in April of 2008. The hive boxes already had honeycomb in them so they seemed to do very well. They even built up to the point where I was able to harvest a little honey in August of 2008.

They wintered over fine (with my occasional feeding) then when spring they seemed to be doing great (lots of bees, eggs, etc.).

Then last July I thought I saw a population drop...I wasn't certain the hive just seemed a little empty. Around that time I had added a super so I thought maybe the hive just seemed less crowded because of the extra space.

July was really busy so I didn't get a chance to check my bees for a while. I did a quick peek about two weeks ago and noticed no drawing out of the frames in the super. I decided to check them more thoroughly and possibly remove the super and start feeding them. I figured if they didn't make any surplus honey then no big deal, I could just get them set up for winter and catch them next year.

I went to the hive and opened it and found no bees (well, there were like three in there). There were a few yellow jackets buzzing around (not uncommon for this time of year), but I have no idea what happened.

I thought this hive was going to make it to winter with no problems. Are there any suggestions for ways to see what might have happened? I'm still just learning so maybe I missed signs of disease? I still have my empty hive, is there anything I could look for that might give me a clue as to what went wrong.

Thanks very much,
-Paul

[Dave W]

>no bees . . . .
As if "they left"?
or no LIVE bees?

When is the last time you counted Varroa mites?

[pains_72]

Hi Dave,

Well what I saw was maybe two or three live but sad looking bees. I didn't see any dead bees but since there were numerous yellow jackets around I wonder if perhaps they might have scoured the hive. I suppose it could be that the bees just left...I hadn't considered that.

As for a varroa mite count...I've never done that. I apply apiguard in the fall as a preventative measure.

Perhaps I need to add regular counts to my routine?

Thank you for the reply Dave, I appreciate your insights.

-Paul

[charmd2]

light on bees in july, possible swarm, then going queenless.

[pains_72]

I have no first hand swarm experience, but I thought a swarm is where a hive splits? That makes sense as far as the population drop, but where does the queenless-ness come from?

Thanks for the reply!
-Paul

[KQ6AR]

If they have trouble raising a new queen, Or she doesn't return from her mating flights you'd be queenless.

[Dave W]

>July I thought I saw a population drop...
A population drop occurs when cells are heavily infested w/ Varroa.
If there are 3, 4, 5 mites per cell; bee dies in cell. If enough die, population drops.
Sometimes queens are replaced, egg-laying slows down, population drops.
Queens can and do slow down (can even stop) egg-laying in July under certain weather conditions; population drops.
Sometimes bees abscound. They just leave the hive, ALL of them.
In the fall, queenless (queenless because of many possible reasons) bees may (often?) abscound to a nearby queen-right colony.

[ClaudiaC]

When you looked in July, did you see eggs? Brood? If not, when was the last time you say eggs?

Now that it's empty, is there any honey? Pollen left? To me, this is key. If there is not honey or pollen, I'd say either the hive absconded - picked up and left - or swarmed then lost their queen as other's have suggested.

Cheers!

[Axtmann]

This is a typically result for a beginner. If you treat against mites you must monitor the mite drop.
Apiguard in fall as a preventative measure doesn’t work. Like formic, any Thymol product works great as long as you have the right temperatures.
Thymol are an very good late summer treatment and needs warm temperature to evaporate.
The old days with easy beekeeping are long gone; you have to keep an eye on mites during the whole year.
There is an expression; the strongest hives die first, because this hives are the best mite’s breeder.

[pains_72]

Thanks very much everyone, I really appreciate the comments and info. It looks like I still have a lot to learn about taking care of my bees.

[LadyBuzz]

Hey, pains,
My experience was similar...got 3 nucs last spring, all three seemed to be going great. I didn't realize how often they needed to be checked!
Late Aug. noticed a drop in population in one. So, I figured they were gone, so harvested the honey. Then, got the other two ready for winter, trying to be organic, so did not treat.
Had the longest, coldest winter in years, too cold to "peek" in at the bees, I was told "Do not open the cover AT ALL if it's less than 55 degrees, or you'll chill the brood." OK, well, when it finally hit 55 a couple of weeks ago, shazam....most of the bees GONE. Maybe 60-70 clustered, dead. No signs of mites, moths, foulbrood, etc. Left lots of capped honey...clean & nice.
There appears to be some uncapped brood??? Gooey, white half dissolved white stuff in a third of some of the frames w/out honey.
I live in town, but nothing has been sprayed in my yard, the neighbors don't spray insecticide around here...
Is this CCD?
I'd love to try again, check more consistantly on their condition...
Anyone else have this happen?

[Kieck]

I usually have bees out and working below 55 degrees F. I would not consider 55 too cold to make a quick check into a hive.

As far as no insecticides being used in town. . . well, are you sure about that? I doubt the loss was caused by insecticide (highly unlikely given the description you provided), but I know that many people in town use insecticides on gardens, trees, around their foundations, on their lawns, etcetera.

My guess, LadyBuzz, is that the hive was queenless and simply declined.

[dthompson]

It could be ccd or it could be solely poor VD control (varoa destructor)
Or it could be queenless after swarm
If it is ccd then the frames will be infective
After new bees are in hive 1 month observe closely rear legs.
If they do "funny stuff" with rear legs, sorry it's ccd
You could as well check for nosema
I have suggestions in archives what to do for ccd
My bees have had ccd for 3 years, it's a pain
It can be fought

dave