[beedeetee]

I live in a similar climate to yours. I don't think that we have hives die from cold starvation often until they start brooding up. As long as days get into the 40's I think that the cluster can move.

The problem comes when they find a small patch of honey, lay a patch of brood, we get a cold snap and most of the cluster moves leaving some bees on the brood (to die). If this happens a few times, they lose population and can't warm the cluster and keep moisture moving. I usually see this when I pull frames from a dead hive and find 3-4 patches of bees and brood in the corners of frames.

This kind of death can occur from this point (mid-January) on. I suspect that most of my hive deaths are still directly or indirectly caused by mites. Starvation deaths will start around now and go until the first of April. So keep vigilant and check your hives. If you have a day with temps into the upper 40's you can slip a few frames of honey in. Just don't break up the cluster.

One other thing that I have done with honey from a dead hive is situate it in a box so that when I add the box to a hive that needs honey, the honey filled frames are right above the cluster. We normally get days when they can move up.

 

[beedeetee]

I had just posted my description above of what I always thought was death by cold snaps with brood in my area when I turned to page 164 of the February American Bee Journal.

Wow, those pictures are exactly what I was talking about. The article is titled "Mortality in Tracheal-mite-Infected Colonies and the Role of Thermoregulation". So it is possible (probable) that what I am really seeing is tracheal mite death as they dwindle. I have never tested my bees for them.

I normally see a hive or nuc a year die this way. One of the pictures shows honey right next to the dead cluster with the queen. The note below states "Dead bees would typically be scattered over several frames, indicitative of the loose clusters that prevail in tracheal-mite-infested colonies.