[Squid Bait]

Hi all,

I'm still new to this, so I apologize if this is answered clearly elsewhere. I've got two hives of Russian Federation bees in Northwest Arkansas. One is doing very well, the other not so much. They were both doing very well until about a month ago. The poor one now has practically zero honey (capped or uncapped) and spotty decreased brood. Mite counts were starting to rise on both hives, but not to dangerous levels. I actually noticed the dramatic difference in the two hives while applying the first half tin of Apiguard. If I had to guess, I'd say requeening with a store bought queen is the way to go, but I'd rather not guess. Any advice?

 

[squarepeg]

if there was honey in the weak hive the last time you looked and it is empty now it is most likely getting robbed by the strong colony.

how does the open brood in the weak hive look? did you see the queen or new eggs? any sign of dead or discolored larvae? can you post a picture of the broodnest?

i think the first objective is determining the reason why the weak colony is collapsing.

 

[Squid Bait]

The open brood looks normal in the weak colony, but there's less than in the strong one. I spotted larva in various stages on two inspections 10 days apart, but didn't see queen or eggs. (I rarely spot the queens, and may have missed eggs.)