I have two hives with identical hive top feeders. In one hive the bees drank the feeder dry and there was only one dead bee in the feeder. In the other feeder there looked to be many dead bees (I just took a quick peek under the cover to check syrup level).
It's the second visit in a row that I've observed this situation. On my last hive check I was concerned so I emptied the old syrup, cleaned the feeder and refilled it with fresh syrup. The feeders have floats the bees stand on while feeding and I confirmed that the floats were indeed floating.
So why the dead bees? I haven't noticed any unusual activity around the hives but the possibilities seem very limited. The only thing I can figure is that I forgot to block the upper entrance and a robbing situation occurred. But twice in a row? It seems unlikely to me because that is what I wondered the first time I observed the dead bees. Any other ideas?
It's the second visit in a row that I've observed this situation. On my last hive check I was concerned so I emptied the old syrup, cleaned the feeder and refilled it with fresh syrup. The feeders have floats the bees stand on while feeding and I confirmed that the floats were indeed floating.
So why the dead bees? I haven't noticed any unusual activity around the hives but the possibilities seem very limited. The only thing I can figure is that I forgot to block the upper entrance and a robbing situation occurred. But twice in a row? It seems unlikely to me because that is what I wondered the first time I observed the dead bees. Any other ideas?