a reBees lost

[Gilberdyke John]

Luck does not come into it. Read up on winter preparations. September, is a bit late for varroa treatment as they are supposed to be the cohort producing the winter bees. What did you use? Bees that are diseased are kicked out of the hive and you will find them crawling away from the hive to die. There will always be some of them as most diseases are endemic in this country and others. Shame you destroyed the brood nest, as you could have sent the forum a foto, because that is the place to look for clues as to their demise. There will always be some varroa in a colony the trick is to keep it to acceptable levels. First year beekeepers often lose their colony me included. The trick is not to repeat mistakes.

After discovering what the mistake(s) was(were). Beekeeping isn't rocket science- it's far more complicated

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

September, is a bit late for varroa treatment

Not really - it's the ideal/optimum time

 

[beeno]

Not really - it's the ideal/optimum time

Not really, but I do acknowledge that some people are on the heather (which included me this year) or Himalayan Balsam.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Neither, but I wouldn't dream of starting treating until mid September. Never have.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Neither, but I wouldn't dream of starting treating until mid September. Never have.

I don’t either but then I don’t use thymol. To be fair mid September might be too cold for thymol.

 

[Boston Bees]

Neither, but I wouldn't dream of starting treating until mid September. Never have.

Maybe worth clarifying how you treat though, when you say this? You presumably wouldn't recommend starting an 8 week Apivar course in mid September?

 

[ericbeaumont]

I dont think it was me that lost them, or lack of knowledge or care I believe I was simply unlucky

Nice try.

It's always a bitter pill to swallow but swallow it we must. I've lost a few this winter that in hindsight could have been avoided.

Most useful outcome for both of us is to work out what went wrong and remember to prevent it next year.

 

[bobba]

Hi Silver,

I am just starting my 2nd full season and like you learnt from youtube and this forum. So its definitely possible.

You tube is great for learning bee handling skills, plenty of vids on what and what not to do ;-). But has its shortcomings too.

I find the changeling bit to learning without a mentor, is all the conflicting advice you will receive. If you have a mentor, they will teach you "their" system, which when all put together works.

But now its up to you to pull various bits of info together to work out your own system. And when seeming honest and knowledgeable people are telling you to do different things, it can get confusing at times.

I know others have said it, but don't blame the guy who sold you the bees. Its impossible to know for sure why they died.

You said " i spent time picking them up and putting then on the landing board ". That sounds like a bad idea. Sometimes its the sick bees that are too week to make it back. Or in other cases infected bees will intentionally leave the hive to die.

"guarantees bug free" - I can sell you a bug free hive mate. Its currently flat-packed in my attic. As others have said every hive on the main land will have some mites, and if they don't they will soon. Other bee viruses are also endemic in the UK and found to some extent in all colonies.

Good luck with your new hives. And do not hesitate to ask if unsure about anything, there are some great guys and gals on here that I am sure will come swiftly to your aid.

 

[Silver]

Luck does not come into it. Read up on winter preparations. September, is a bit late for varroa treatment as they are supposed to be the cohort producing the winter bees. What did you use? Bees that are diseased are kicked out of the hive and you will find them crawling away from the hive to die. There will always be some of them as most diseases are endemic in this country and others. Shame you destroyed the brood nest, as you could have sent the forum a foto, because that is the place to look for clues as to their demise. There will always be some varroa in a colony the trick is to keep it to acceptable levels. First year beekeepers often lose their colony me included. The trick is not to repeat mistakes.

Luckily I had removed then but they are still around so ill post some photos when I can, as I would be interested to get more advice.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Luckily I had removed then but they are still around so ill post some photos when I can, as I would be interested to get more advice.

That’s good. A few pictures will get you further

 

[Silver]

Hi Silver,

I am just starting my 2nd full season and like you learnt from youtube and this forum. So its definitely possible.

You tube is great for learning bee handling skills, plenty of vids on what and what not to do ;-). But has its shortcomings too.

I find the changeling bit to learning without a mentor, is all the conflicting advice you will receive. If you have a mentor, they will teach you "their" system, which when all put together works.

But now its up to you to pull various bits of info together to work out your own system. And when seeming honest and knowledgeable people are telling you to do different things, it can get confusing at times.

I know others have said it, but don't blame the guy who sold you the bees. Its impossible to know for sure why they died.

You said " i spent time picking them up and putting then on the landing board ". That sounds like a bad idea. Sometimes its the sick bees that are too week to make it back. Or in other cases infected bees will intentionally leave the hive to die.

"guarantees bug free" - I can sell you a bug free hive mate. Its currently flat-packed in my attic. As others have said every hive on the main land will have some mites, and if they don't they will soon. Other bee viruses are also endemic in the UK and found to some extent in all colonies.

Good luck with your new hives. And do not hesitate to ask if unsure about anything, there are some great guys and gals on here that I am sure will come swiftly to your aid.

Hi
I probably overstated the bug free matter as that I realise its probably an impossibility unless they are reared in laboratory conditions, its my expectation that I will probably have a lower likely hood of disease by purchasing from a reputable supplier.

I discovered wax moth for example in the hive last year, which fortunately I managed to discover and remove before it did any lasting damage.

The forum is great, full of knowledge which I am anxious to explore, and yes I agree there are always different ways to tackle matters, ultimately its what works and thats a point I hope to reach this year, by reducing any obvious errors. But time will tell !

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi
I probably overstated the bug free matter as that I realise its probably an impossibility unless they are reared in laboratory conditions, its my expectation that I will probably have a lower likely hood of disease by purchasing from a reputable supplier.

I discovered wax moth for example in the hive last year, which fortunately I managed to discover and remove before it did any lasting damage.

The forum is great, full of knowledge which I am anxious to explore, and yes I agree there are always different ways to tackle matters, ultimately its what works and thats a point I hope to reach this year, by reducing any obvious errors. But time will tell !

Have a look at this thread
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/friends-lost-colony-pictures.49617/

 

[Silver]

Hi
I took some photos when I lost the hive, which are posted below, there are clear signs of varroa which are evident here - but others might spot something else so I would be grateful for comments.

The hive was previously active and well, they had plenty of supplies and i had also put a fondant bar on a crown board immediately over the brood box, so I would doubt that it was food supplies. Whilst there isn't as lot of brood, I imagine that this is normal for the winter months but again I'm not sure.

I did leave the hive with an open bottom i.e with just the mesh sheet and no board and at the time of loss it hadn't been particularly cold, down to just about single figures.

 

[Hachi]

Hi
I probably overstated the bug free matter as that I realise its probably an impossibility unless they are reared in laboratory conditions, its my expectation that I will probably have a lower likely hood of disease by purchasing from a reputable supplier.

As already pointed out to you, this is far from certain.

Here is a link to a little info about wax moth,

Wax moth « Bee Aware

The way you've written your post can be read as you found a single instance of a wax moth but dont say at what stage the moth was. It is unsafe to suggest tho, having found one and dealt with it means you have eradicated the problem. Wax moth in a hive could indicate a weaker hive.

Also, you need to decipher those with experience and those with opinion.

 

[BeeGiner]

By all means buy your Nuc from Paynes but I hope you won't think that's a magic bullet against Varroa. We got a Nuc from Paynes in May last year, not sure how clean they were to start with but by Autumn there were plenty of Varroa to deal with.
Oh and strangely the supposedly 2020 queen had a green dot indicating she was actually a 2019 queen. Paynes answer to this "Please don’t worry about the colour of the queen, we don’t tend to worry too much about colours. We use whatever pen we happen to have on us at the time of marking them.".

That’s a strange comment about queen marking to come from a “reputable” supplier.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Maybe worth clarifying how you treat though, when you say this? You presumably wouldn't recommend starting an 8 week Apivar course in mid September?

OA or Apiguard - temperatures are fine for the latter well into October.

 

[Amari]

As already pointed out to you, this is far from certain.
Also, you need to decipher those with experience and those with opinion.

Meaningless! I have experience (49 years) but beware my opinions. Maybe you meant 'expert'?

 

[pargyle]

Hi
I took some photos when I lost the hive, which are posted below, there are clear signs of varroa which are evident here - but others might spot something else so I would be grateful for comments.

The hive was previously active and well, they had plenty of supplies and i had also put a fondant bar on a crown board immediately over the brood box, so I would doubt that it was food supplies. Whilst there isn't as lot of brood, I imagine that this is normal for the winter months but again I'm not sure.

I did leave the hive with an open bottom i.e with just the mesh sheet and no board and at the time of loss it hadn't been particularly cold, down to just about single figures.

Definite signs of varroa in those frames ... varroa poo. .. emerging bee struggling to get out of a cell. There's not a lot of food in those frames .. a bit of what looks like Ivy honey in one of them but I suspect a colony weakened by varroa that dwindled ... and expired.

 

[Silver]

Definite signs of varroa in those frames ... varroa poo. .. emerging bee struggling to get out of a cell. There's not a lot of food in those frames .. a bit of what looks like Ivy honey in one of them but I suspect a colony weakened by varroa that dwindled ... and expired.

Hi
I should have mentioned that the adjacent frames to the main brood box were full of stores.

 

[Hachi]

Meaningless! I have experience (49 years) but beware my opinions. Maybe you meant 'expert'?

you say expert I say experience; pays yer money choose your poison.