Not going well need advise.

[jpgero]

Hi all,
I am a new beekeeper in NJ and I need help from the experienced beekeeper in this forum. I discovered today that I lost one of my hives and I can't understand the cause. I was checking the colony to make sure that it had enough feed. Here is what I discovered (I have added picture in an album titled lost colony):
+ The frames in the top box were full of honey
+ Only a few bee dead (less then 50) were left in the hive
+ I only found two very small clusters on separate frames
+ Some bees where head in cells
+ In the lower brood box most of the frames were empty
+ The bees did not seems to have any deformities (see photo)

I do not know what happened, do anyone has an ideas as to why there are so few dead bees in the hive and what could possible be the cause for the collapse of my colony.
Thank you for your help,
Jean-Pierre

[jonathan]

Hi
Dwindle for some reason, take your pick from, mites, viruses, queen failure, varroa, poor nutrition, pesticide poisoning, CCD - followed by isolation starvation when the cluster got small.

It is very hard to know exactly what happened without testing some dead bees in a lab.
Heads in cells sounds like they starved at the end when the numbers dwindled and the cluster got too small to move to stores in cold weather. When numbers get down to a couple of thousand bees the colony is barely viable let alone 50 bees.

[jpgero]

Thanks Jonathan. I still don't understand why I have so few dead bees in the hive where did the rest of the colony go? Also I was hoping that some of the pics would point in a direction. As for the Heads in cell bees, they indeed died, however, cells next to them were full of honey.

[Stromnessbees]

Hi Jean-Pierre

It's a typical case of CCD, caused by neonicotionoid poisoning during the summer.

I know that it's odd that the bees die with such a delay, but hundreds of thousands of colonies are affected this winter.

You need to examine where these systemic pesticides were used in your area, if you can't move the bees away from the source it's probably not possible to keep bees alive there anymore.

It's a really nasty affair, and we need to do whatever we can to get them banned.

[bobbarker]

Hi Jean-Pierre

It's a typical case of CCD, caused by neonicotionoid poisoning during the summer.

I know that it's odd that the bees die with such a delay, but hundreds of thousands of colonies are affected this winter.

You need to examine where these systemic pesticides were used in your area, if you can't move the bees away from the source it's probably not possible to keep bees alive there anymore.

It's a really nasty affair, and we need to do whatever we can to get them banned.

So, anytime a hive dies it MUST be related to CCD and Neonics? You're jumping to conclusions, and telling a new beek that if he can't locate exactly where the chemical that may or may not be being used in his area is at, he should stop keeping bees because they're just all going to die. Do you not realize how ridiculous that sounds? There are a plethora of possibilities for why that hive died, and CCD from Neonics is only one. Heck, for all we know, someone was stealing the bees a handful at a time until there were too few to keep the hive warm! So should he stop beekeeping because all of his bees are just going to get stolen?

Telling people to stop keeping bees because they can't isolate and eliminate neonics use in their area is just as harmful to the overall bee population as CCD. Yes, Neonics are a problem. Yes, CCD is a problem. Yes, they are probably related, but lighten up a little bit and try to give some helpful advice and insight, or do your best to restrain your fingers.

[Stromnessbees]

So, anytime a hive dies it MUST be related to CCD and Neonics? You're jumping to conclusions, and telling a new beek that if he can't locate exactly where the chemical that may or may not be being used in his area is at, he should stop keeping bees because they're just all going to die. Do you not realize how ridiculous that sounds? There are a plethora of possibilities for why that hive died, and CCD from Neonics is only one. Heck, for all we know, someone was stealing the bees a handful at a time until there were too few to keep the hive warm! So should he stop beekeeping because all of his bees are just going to get stolen?

Telling people to stop keeping bees because they can't isolate and eliminate neonics use in their area is just as harmful to the overall bee population as CCD. Yes, Neonics are a problem. Yes, CCD is a problem. Yes, they are probably related, but lighten up a little bit and try to give some helpful advice and insight, or do your best to restrain your fingers.

I stick with my opinion that this loss was due to neonics.

So if the beekeeper cannot eliminate the source of the pesticide, should he get bees again, just to lose them the same way as this winter?

Already half the colonies have been wiped out in the US this winter. There's going to be a huge shortage of bees.
To restock in an area where they have little chance of survival is a waste of good bees and good money.

I'd rather advice people to help get the neonics banned, and once we have achieved that I am very happy to talk about restocking.

[jonathan]

Isolation starvation can take place just a few inches away from stores.
Bees grow old and die and just don't come back to the hive.
I have lost a few nucs myself this winter. Anything which went into winter a bit on the small side has failed.
there is a saying in beekeeping that the best thing for bees in winter is some more bees.
Did you notice if the queen was with the remaining bees. Sorry haven't looked at your pictures yet.

EDIT. Album says no picture in it.

[Kieck]

Have the symptoms associated with colony collapse disorder changed? I believed the collapse occurs in the fall, not in the mid to late winter.

[Stromnessbees]

No, it happens throughout winter as well.

[jonathan]

Any small cluster irrespective of the reasons why it has become small can succumb to isolation starvation in a cold spell.

[Kieck]

Did you find the queen among the dead bees, jpgero?

How do you know that this particular instance was caused by neonicotinoids, Stromnessbees?