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My Colony Died

11K views 26 replies 12 participants last post by  beemandan 
#1 ·
Back at the beginning of October I conducted a full inventory of my one (top bar) hive and everything looked to be ok. There were lots of bees covering nearly all of the combs, open and capped brood and plenty of stores. Just prior to hurricane sandy, I went out to put some extra weight on the cover and noticed that the hive seemed ‘quiet’. A quick look through the observation window discovered a few bees, but not so few as to raise an alarm (to my novice mind, anyhow).

Last week, I took another look through window and seeing NO BEES, started to worry, but hoped that, because of the cool weather, that the cluster was up high in corner where I couldn’t see it.
Today was an especially warm day (mid 60’s) so I took a few minutes to open the hive and have a look. What I found is that my colony is completely dead. There was one lone bee buzzing around outside the hive (sunny, 65⁰F) and when I opened it up I found lots of (well, not really that many) dead bees. The first few frames (Top Bars) where the brood nest had been each had a small cluster in one top corner of about 75-100 (dead) bees. Some face-into the cells, some hanging on outside, almost ‘normal’ looking. Looking through the rest of the combs, there are plenty of stores and no evidence of robbing. I found the queen in one of the clusters among the dead workers so I doubt they could(?) have absconded. No swarm cells or supersedure cells; and no more than the usual queen cups along the edges of the combs.

We have not had an exceedingly cold fall (a few nights here and there in the 20’s), and I haven’t seen a mite since I installed the package in early April. I did see a few SHB at the end of summer, but there is no evidence of them now. Surely, I am missing something…

I went back a few hours later this afternoon to take some photos and there were then a few dozen bees returning to the hive (or robbing it out?). They were not aggressive or defensive in any way. I was able to remove every frame and photograph it without smoke or a veil.

What could have happened? Keeper error? Pesticides? Something else?

What to do now? There is a lot of pollen, honey and bee bread. Should I seal the hive up (is that really possible) and reinstall another package in the spring? Should I harvest the honey and keep everything else in the freezer until spring, then feed it back to a new hive?

High-res Photos here http://flickr.com/gp/duxpix/9HM65Y/ - the photos look almost normal, until you realize that all the bees are dead

Any ideas?
 
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#4 ·
#21 ·
Exactly- I too learned from MP what PMS looks like. In fact you have some great photos of it- the pin holes in the brood- and many of them. The bees, too weak to emerge. I would love to be able to use some of these photos in our class. They are great teaching tools.

You said you checked the bees earlier in the Fall and everything looked fine. Did you do any mite assessment? Lots of bees does not equal healthy bees- and I too have seen, if they are infested with mites- the crash happens quickly.
 
#6 ·
wow frank, that's the first time i heard of someone purposely letting healthy bees rob a dead out.

what if there are pests (mites) or pathogens (viruses, bacteria) that may have caused the collapse left behind?

would you not be concerned that the healthy bees might take it back to their hive?

seems like at least freezing the frames first would be a good safegaurd.

(unless they had to be burned if it was afb).
 
#17 ·
beeman,

sorry to hear about your hives getting robbed out. i have only had that happen twice. both times, reducing the entrances did not work, and i had to move the hives to another location several miles away. as a beginner, i wasn't sure why they were getting robbbed, but i have since learned how to check for mites ect.

do you know why your hives ended up to weak to defend against robbing? are they collapsing due to mites and/or disease? your neighbor may be getting free stores, but he may also be getting an influx of mites or even worse, (this is how american foul brood is spread).

stopping robbing is the most responsible thing a beekeeper can do to help prevent the spread of a problem to his neighbor's bees, and to the wild bees in his area.
 
#18 ·
stopping robbing is the most responsible thing a beekeeper can do to help prevent the spread of a problem to his neighbor's bees, and to the wild bees in his area.
Yep...ya can't blame the neighbor's bees. If your colonies are in decline all of the healthy bees in the neighborhood will take advantage of it. I wonder how you can be certain that it is only the neighbor's bees?
 
#19 ·
Something told me to check into the robbing hive today. What I found was the worst (well almost worst) possible scenario.
DEAD OUT. No wonder the bees were not defending the hive.
What I did find was EXACTLY what DUX had with the exception of mites. No mites, shb, no foul brood, and only about 400 bees total all dead.
My guess is that the bees (with queen) absconded a week or so ago and the rest were not able to keep themselves warm and froze out.
There is about 30lbs of honey, nectar, lots of pollen and some brood.
For the life of me though, I cannot figure out why they flew the coop. No sign of anything wrong. Any ideas?
 
#20 ·
For the life of me though, I cannot figure out why they flew the coop. No sign of anything wrong. Any ideas?
At the risk of repeating myself in the same thread....
Rather than reinventing the wheel...you may want to read this recent thread.
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?275603-Autumn-Abscond&highlight=abscond
There have been a number of similar posts since. This is the time of year when varroa pressure reaches its peak...and the previously strongest colonies....disappear.
 
#27 ·
Thanks SP. It is much simpler than its predecessor. The old one had an online store, blog and lots of glitz. I decided it was time to simplify my life somewhat.
 
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