absolutely devastated :(

[thebhoy]

Just lost a lovely big colony that was coming along very well....14 x 12 poly.

Moved them to an out apiary last week on association site, sitting on brick and blocks about 6 inches off ground.........appears that the location was flooded since my visit on Thursday as got a text last night to say there was a pile of bees in a puddle outside my hive. No water when I got there tonight but ground very soggy and it looks like the water may have covered the entrance and that the bees have overheated /suffocated.....they were just piled up inside right up to the supers with survivors trying to clean out the dead. Lucky if there were enough bees left to cover two frames........it doesn't look like any water entered the hive.
My other colony that was on a stand was fine as were other peoples around the site

So, as title says..........absolutely devastated :'( :'( :'(

 

[beeno]

That is so unfortunate. I feel so sorry for you and the poor bees.

 

[northernsoul]

sorry to hear that.
Its absolutely pants when you lose one.
You have to be a beekeeper to really appreciate what it means when this happens

 

[curry756]

devastating to read. Did the queen survive?

 

[ellypatt]

So sorry to hear this. There were some very heavy downpours round us over the weekend.

 

[thebhoy]

Couldn't see the queen in what was left...

Will need to decide whether to combine what is left with my other hive on the site or to combine it with a nuc I have at home which covers 4 frames of BIAS....possibly best to do that

So gutted as had got another two personal sites on Monday and was so looking forward to building up colony numbers this year as had been in garden for last 3 years.

 

[Erichalfbee]

B****y H**l

So sorry.....always so awful .
I nearly lost a colony with a blocked entrance over winter. Lifted the brood box to see an inch of dead bees on the OMF. Haven't felt so bad for a long time so I know how you feel.

Chin up.

 

[k9rml]

So sorry to hear about your young colony how devastated you must be. Who would of thought that would of happened this time of year.

 

[Loubee7]

Really sorry to hear your news!

 

[farbee]

Sorry to hear that John. Not your week.

 

[sharonh]

Sorry to hear that, horrible to lose a colony. I would unite with the nuc & see how they get on. You'll build up again, lots of time.

 

[thebhoy]

thanks folks, will need to put it down as careless beekeeping.....and be more cautious about sites etc going forward and how the hives are placed...valuable lesson learned from the sad loss of the bees.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

So sorry to hear this. There were some very heavy downpours round us over the weekend.

Devastating news. Another consideration to add to criteria for selection of a site for an Apiary - avoid low areas with inadequate drainage. Strangely we seem to have high rainfall sporadically in late June/early July especially 2007 when our village suffered dramatically.

 

[user 6228]

Devastating news. Another consideration to add to criteria for selection of a site for an Apiary - avoid low areas with inadequate drainage. Strangely we seem to have high rainfall sporadically in late June/early July especially 2007 when our village suffered dramatically.

Agreed
Not a nice thing to come home to...
This reinforces the lessons about keeping the hives as high as one can manage.
The bees as usual are ahead of us in wanting to nest 5m up (some what inconvienent for us)