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Bees died, what next?

4K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  BjornBee 
#1 ·
Hello all,
I started one hive last year. I tried my best, as a novice, to do all the right things, mostly according to what I read in books. Unfortunately, they died over the winter, probably because it was too cold. I neglected to cover the hive with tar paper as (I think?) one should do.

Now today I finally got around to cleaning out the hive, removing the dead bees. I scraped up stray bits of wax, propolis and comb, removed 3 frames that were full of honey. I plan to extract these tomorrow. Fortunately I have all the equipment I need, including a 6-frame extractor.

Next year I would like to get another package of bees for this hive. The frames were brand new last year. Can I reuse any part of the frames, and how would I do this? The current frames have the plastic foundation on them. Or should I just toss them all and start over? If the bees had survived, they would be using this hive again so perhaps I can keep them? If I have to clean them up and/or put in new foundation, what is the best way to do this? Maybe freezing them to facilitate scraping? What about cleaning up the rest of the boxes? Would the new bees reject the hive or suffer adversely if they are in the home of previous bees?

Thanks for your help.

Lora
 
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#3 ·
There is no need to "wrap" hives in CT.

The goods news is that the Backyard Beekeepers Association
meets in Weston every month, and has novice courses, mentors,
and everything else you need to get up to speed and keep those
bees healthy.
http://www.backyardbeekeepers.com

I am a member, and I attend the occasional meeting when I can
make it up from Manhattan. My buddy Dick Marron chairs the
hour-long Q&A session for new beekeepers held before every
meeting, and hosts many of the apiary programs, so I know that
they will take good care of you.

Books and the internet only go so far - beekeeping is a craft,
and one must see and do with one's own hands to learn a
craft or an art.
 
#4 ·
If you are only cleaning out a winter deadout in July, maybe you should consider another hobby. Sounds like CCD to me, leftover honey, no wax moths yet?
 
#6 ·
I agree. The package was probably treated and had low mites as most newly installed packages "magically" survive the first winter with little help. the comb is 1 year old, not 30 as with a lot of the CCD samples being tested.

IMO, CCD is the end result of many factors playing off each other. Its kind of looking at some reason why bees left (prior to CCD), and suggesting its "Absconding". Absconding unto itself is the description of what the bees did. But bees naturally abscond for many reasons. Now use that some model for CCD. CCD, is the end result, from a combination of mite overload, a suppressed immune system, degradation of health due to pesticides and chemicals, stress, nutrition, and other factors. Nobody will find a single source cause. CCD is the end result of factors. Each unto itself perhaps manageable. But in combination, a deadly concoction.

And for all the possibilities at play, I see none of them to suggest that this hive died of CCD. Maybe there is a reason for lack of wax moths, (I still have dead-outs from last year with no moths).
 
#9 ·
Out here we have had maybe 2 good months of beekeeping weather. Most of the first part of May was wet and cool, so the bees didn't get out much then. From my experience significant wax moth damage will not occur out here until the later part of summer. Robbing only occurs when there is a lack of rain out here. Fortunately we have had consistent rain, and the flow has continued to produce.

The hive died during the winter, calling it CCD would be a stretch IMHO. Winter loss could be attribted to many other factors other then CCD.
 
#10 ·
I can not speak for California, but here in Pa., wax moth season normally does not even begin till July, give or take a few weeks. And just last week, was the first time bees even bothered my pallet of fondant that has been sitting in my driveway since last fall, even though the raccoons have been nibbling at it for months. So its just not honey that "sometimes" does not get bothered. And I don't think its CCD in the commercial fondant. ;)

I have stated from the start and will continue to do so, that this whole "bees do not rob" was a casual observation and comment that was quickly cast in stone, and turned into urban legend status. In yards such as those experiencing large 95%+ kill, I wonder if ANY bees were even healthy enough to rob anything out. And from the CCD samples tested so far, there are so many chemicals being found (many beekeeper induced), I don't blame the bees for not wanting to rob this chemical cesspool.

But I hardly think that CCD be labeled on every hive that sits awhile without wax moths or robbing going on. There are too many other normal situations and circumstances that allow this "urban legend" to be wrongly applied.


Lora started one hive. At this point, we do not even know if there are other bees in the area to rob. And Lora never said whether the comb was protected, sealed, or inside protected.
 
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