I did my first hive check on the first day that it got nice and warm...yesterday. I had been feeding with sugar water in a top feeder for a little while, and had noted bees climbing in to get some so I felt they were probably okay. WRONG. I opened the hive to find a little pile of bees on top of the frames, with the queen inside the middle of them. The hive doesn't smell very nice, either. I checked and found that there was a lot of capped honey, but I did find hundreds of dead varroa mites in the bottom board, so I guess that's what did it. I guess my herbal remedies didn't work like I'd hoped.

This was my first hive and my first year. I have already ordered my nuc to replace this hive, but I need to know how to clean out this hive to prepare it for the new bees? How do I make sure that it's varroa mite-free, as well as other diseases that might be a left-over problem.

What sort of chemicals do you use to wipe out the varroa mites? I have heard there were pretty heavy casualties from the bugs this year in Indiana.

It's sad, but I'm not giving up, yet.


Cara