I have only had bees for 3 years now, just went through my 2nd winter. I have a bunch to learn yet and this is one where I am definitely puzzled. I had this hive over winter and thought they were doing fine until I did my first inspection about 6 weeks ago. At that time I noticed there was a very erratic brood pattern and figured the queen was just not laying at full speed. Checked a couple of weeks later and noticed that the brood pattern was very erratic and that the cappings over the brood cells was domed, but they were worker sized cells. Through research thought that maybe I had a lost my queen and that I had a laying worker. Bee activity coming in and out of the hive stayed pretty decent. Then I checked last week and there was still a good number of worker bees in the hive. Thought I would have lost a lot of bees by then. I ordered a couple of packages last week and decided that I would move this hive and let the workers fly back to the new hive that I sat in its place. Here are the photos of the hive today when I hauled it a couple of 100 yards away from its original location. It was a bright sunny afternoon so I was able to see things pretty clearly. Here is what I found. Majority of worker bees, very spotty brood pattern, some bees looked like they died after developing in the cell ( capping gone, but fully formed dead bee in cell.) No foul smell. No gooey slimy cells. "Match sticked" a couple of dead pupa and they were not ropey. Never saw a queen, but could have over looked her.
I would love to hear from the experienced keepers what they think happened. THANK YOU
First picture - highly developed larva, pinkish brown heads in uncapped cells.
2nd picture - domed cappings on cells
3rd picture - spotty brood pattern
4th picture - dead but fully developed bees in cells
5th picture - larva removed from a cell
I would love to hear from the experienced keepers what they think happened. THANK YOU
First picture - highly developed larva, pinkish brown heads in uncapped cells.
2nd picture - domed cappings on cells
3rd picture - spotty brood pattern
4th picture - dead but fully developed bees in cells
5th picture - larva removed from a cell
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