[Johnnymms]

It was mid 50s here today after a bout of cold weather the last week. Around noon my two hives were furious with activity. I have the entrances reduced to the smallest opening at the moment and there was a huge log jam in the front of each hive with bees trying to get in and out. I thought to switch the entrance reducer to the medium opening to help but decided against it. I noticed a fair amount of bees "missing" the entrance and falling to the ground right below. The activity at the entrance at 630pm was much less, however I noticed bees in small groups (also some alone) all around the ground around the hives. I had just placed some weed matting under my hives this year so these clumps of bees were much easier to spot. There was a pile of pollen that the bees had been collecting right below the entrance to the hives where I saw bees "missing" the entrance. Many of these bees seemed very sluggish, barely moving unless I prodded them. I decided to test how they would act in the presence of honey so I dabbed a little around some of the groupings and they eventually made their way over to it. As I looked closer I spotted more of these bees clinging to grass blades nearby. This is more than just the usual dead bee pile I have noticed here and there since I got my hives last Spring. I treated for mites late last summer, in the fall, and again on a warmer day this past January (OAV each time). There has been a candy board on top of the hive since Winter, with one hive consuming 80% and the other 40-50%. I have been monitoring the bottom board all Winter and have noticed only a few mites dropping in Feb and March. There is still solid sugar left in each hive on the candy boards and honey in frames as well. I did an inspection a week and a half ago and saw frames with honey, eggs, and larvae in each hive. I am attaching pictures showing the amount of bees seen at the end of today. I have been reading some information about nosema, tracheal mites and such. Could this just be evidence of bees exhausted from the furious activity earlier in the day? Or is this a sign of something more sinister? I have not checked mite loads yet this season as temps have risen sharply for a day or two and then fall back to normal (20s-30s night, 40s-50 daytime). I figured opening the hive when it was cold was a bad idea. I have attached a link to more photos and videos I took as well.

Any thoughts?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/AnjqjTcEodsFet8w9

 

[Fivej]

The flying bees seem active and healthy. As a pure guess, I think it is a combination of several things happening at the same time. Colony is trying to remove the dead, some are hanging out where it is warm, some are getting the pollen that scraped off, entrance is too small for the traffic. If you don't see any deformed wings, its probably nothing to worry about. I would swing out the reducers on nice days and swing them back in at the end of the day rather than going to the large opening. That one entrance where the pollen is seems smaller than normal, but may be the angle of the pic. It is definitely scraping pollen off their legs. J

 

[Johnnymms]

The flying bees seem active and healthy. As a pure guess, I think it is a combination of several things happening at the same time. Colony is trying to remove the dead, some are hanging out where it is warm, some are getting the pollen that scraped off, entrance is too small for the traffic. If you don't see any deformed wings, its probably nothing to worry about. I would swing out the reducers on nice days and swing them back in at the end of the day rather than going to the large opening. That one entrance where the pollen is seems smaller than normal, but may be the angle of the pic. It is definitely scraping pollen off their legs. J

Thank you for taking the time to look at the pictures and watch the few videos I posted. I checked the hive again today and there were a lot fewer bees on the ground. Whereas there were over 100 yesterday, today I found less than 20. The brushed the pile of pollen away this morning and another was there tonight. The bees are definitely active! I am hoping this was just an unusual case of conditions all arising at the same time that led to the number of bees on the ground yesterday. I did inspect some of the bees that were present tonight and quite a few looked like dead bees that had been removed from the hive and not the lethargic, slowly dying bees from the other day. Quite a few of the ones I found tonight had their tongues out. The hives are located in a rural farmland area so its possible that maybe they ran into some pesticide? No crops here are large enough for pesticides to be applied to my knowledge. I am going to keep monitoring them and see what the losses are each day. Thanks again for your help.

 

[roberto487]

Thank you for taking the time to look at the pictures and watch the few videos I posted. I checked the hive again today and there were a lot fewer bees on the ground. Whereas there were over 100 yesterday, today I found less than 20. The brushed the pile of pollen away this morning and another was there tonight. The bees are definitely active! I am hoping this was just an unusual case of conditions all arising at the same time that led to the number of bees on the ground yesterday. I did inspect some of the bees that were present tonight and quite a few looked like dead bees that had been removed from the hive and not the lethargic, slowly dying bees from the other day. Quite a few of the ones I found tonight had their tongues out. The hives are located in a rural farmland area so its possible that maybe they ran into some pesticide? No crops here are large enough for pesticides to be applied to my knowledge. I am going to keep monitoring them and see what the losses are each day. Thanks again for your help.

How cold was it? I had same thing happened to me. It was mild, low 60 and after a cold front came though, it got to upper 30s. I saw a bunch of field bees with pollen on their legs immobile in place.

 

[username00101]

It was mid 50s here today after a bout of cold weather the last week. Around noon my two hives were furious with activity. I have the entrances reduced to the smallest opening at the moment and there was a huge log jam in the front of each hive with bees trying to get in and out. I thought to switch the entrance reducer to the medium opening to help but decided against it. I noticed a fair amount of bees "missing" the entrance and falling to the ground right below. The activity at the entrance at 630pm was much less, however I noticed bees in small groups (also some alone) all around the ground around the hives. I had just placed some weed matting under my hives this year so these clumps of bees were much easier to spot. There was a pile of pollen that the bees had been collecting right below the entrance to the hives where I saw bees "missing" the entrance. Many of these bees seemed very sluggish, barely moving unless I prodded them. I decided to test how they would act in the presence of honey so I dabbed a little around some of the groupings and they eventually made their way over to it. As I looked closer I spotted more of these bees clinging to grass blades nearby. This is more than just the usual dead bee pile I have noticed here and there since I got my hives last Spring. I treated for mites late last summer, in the fall, and again on a warmer day this past January (OAV each time). There has been a candy board on top of the hive since Winter, with one hive consuming 80% and the other 40-50%. I have been monitoring the bottom board all Winter and have noticed only a few mites dropping in Feb and March. There is still solid sugar left in each hive on the candy boards and honey in frames as well. I did an inspection a week and a half ago and saw frames with honey, eggs, and larvae in each hive. I am attaching pictures showing the amount of bees seen at the end of today. I have been reading some information about nosema, tracheal mites and such. Could this just be evidence of bees exhausted from the furious activity earlier in the day? Or is this a sign of something more sinister? I have not checked mite loads yet this season as temps have risen sharply for a day or two and then fall back to normal (20s-30s night, 40s-50 daytime). I figured opening the hive when it was cold was a bad idea. I have attached a link to more photos and videos I took as well.

Any thoughts?

View attachment 54719 View attachment 54721 View attachment 54723 View attachment 54725


https://photos.app.goo.gl/AnjqjTcEodsFet8w9

OP - paragraph your post

I looked at your pictures. That's not enough to worry me.

I read that those are symptoms of pesticide, is that correct?