Colony Collapse - suggestions.

[KentWasp]

Will try to make this as brief as possible.Have earlier this season sited a couple of nucs at the rear of a guy’s garden in a rural setting as he wants to watch me for a year to see what’s involved before he launches into the expense. The two nucs had been transferred to brood boxes and were doing well covering about eight frames.
While I was away for a week-end he contacted a member of our branch for help as the bees from one hive ‘were going mad’. Evidently there was a cloud of bees in a very angry mood, heaps of dead bees,bees crawling on the grass and a pile on top of the Queen all fighting.
The helpful member dispatched the queen as she was in a bad way, sealed the hive and and swept up two dustpans of dead bees. When I visited a day later there was 50 or so bees alive and well in the hive which I released a hundred yards or so from the original position, took the hive home and thoroughly stripped and disinfected it and it is now in cold storage until next season.
There was no effect on the other hive some two metres away which has continued to do well and is hopefully well set for the winter.
Best diagnosis my enquiries have come up with is poisoning, but it was suggested to me this weekend that it could be Acute Bee Paralysis Virus (ABPV) or CBPV but symptoms don’t sound quite the same.
A sample should have been sent to the National Bee Unit I guess but one cannot criticise a colleague helping out on a weekend!
Any thoughts anybody?

 

[Hivemaker.]

Bees fighting...sounds more like robbing than poisoning.

 

[itma]

Nucs into full-sized hives, with what entrance arrangement?


/// ADDED - and just how much stores were left in the 'empty' hive?

 

[madasafish]

Sounds like robbing to me: was there any feeding?

 

[Chris B]

I've seen this sort of thing before with bees with fermented feed, although not so severe as to wipe out a colony. So yes, maybe a form of poisoning.

 

[Michael Palmer]

Would poisoned bees fight? I agree with HM. Robbing incident.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I've seen this sort of thing before with bees with fermented feed,

Saw the same kind of thing in the pub opposite my digs in Bristol - every Saturday night - fighting was due to fermentwed apples in that case though

 

[enrico]

Saw the same kind of thing in the pub opposite my digs in Bristol - every Saturday night - fighting was due to fermentwed apples in that case though

Ah! That must have been me!

 

[wessexmario]

cider in Bristol... happy days... I did my 6th form in Bristol.

 

[drstitson]

another vote for robbing.

as above - what size entrance and was feeding taking place?