Kind of going through that right now with a couple of hives I lost over the winter. Had a lid blow off at a remote location hive and never got a call about it so lost it them and it was really wet and moldy in there with all the rain we've had. The other, I have no idea as to why thy failed, but same thing, damp inside and moldy. I have been leaving the frames out on the rare sunny days (I am in 'sunny' California right?) and been letting the frames dry out plus the bees from my side yard have been robbing whatever they can from the frames too. I was thinking that when I put whatever frames are salvageable in a hive, I would only put a couple in at a time so I wouldn't drive out a perfectly good colony with a bad smell from the frames cause they sure do stink! Any thoughts?
Craig