Colony doesn't seem to be thriving

[The Riviera Kid]

I am rather concerned about one of my colonies.

The queen (born 2011) is present and correct. The bees are in good humour. There are plenty of stores and some nextar and pollen. No obvious sign of varroa (deformed wings etc.) and couldn't see any when I examined bees through a magnifying glass. There was zero drop when I put the tray back in for 5 days. There is no evidence of nosema and the comb is clean and young. They went in to the winter well fed and strong.

But there is virtually no brood. Last week there was an area of sealed brood about the size of a palm on both sides of a single frame and yesterday, most of it had hatched, but there was no new sealed brood to replace it. There are no drone cells and the frame she has laid on is text book regarding the pattern and presence of stores around the side.

The old over-wintered workers are dying off and the colony seems to be shrinking rather than growing.

The weather here in the midlands has been very changeable of late, with cold frosty nights and grey days with some sun but there are trees in blossom around the edge of their field and rape less than a mile away. The other two colonies a few metres either side of it are performing as expected.

In the apparant absence of disease and with the good health of the two adjacent sister colonies ruling out environmental causes, I am struggling to work out what the problem is.

If the queen is berren/failing then I would have assumed that they would have superceded her at the first opportunity.

The only other conclusion I can think of is that the colony dwindled through the winter due to cold and natural wastage etc. past a critical point where there simply are too few bees to do all the jobs that need doing.

Or is there something else I could have missed?

 

[The Riviera Kid]

I moved a frame of brood/eggs from a more populace colony yesterday to try and boost numbers, but would be grateful if anyone could suggest any other ideas as to what is going on and what I might do about it.

 

[Snail368]

Has the Queen been injured? Could be affecting her ability to lay?

 

[Ely]

I have a colony just like this. I have rehomed in a nuc until a queen is available to requeen.

 

[The Riviera Kid]

If the queen were mal-functioning in some way, I reckon the bees would have gone about raising a new queen from her eggs instead of just two small patches of worker brood. They seem perfectly happy with her. She is showing no visible sign of injury.

Normally, if a queen has sustained injury or is having a problem laying, then the workers will do something about it and replace her.

I may follow Ely's example and put them in a nuc. It will be less space for them to heat/deal with.

She's a good queen and her daughters are very tranquil and quiet so I will be sad if anything happens to her.

 

[Poly Hive]

Some colonies just do not thrive for what ever reason, usually I suspect the inability to resist even moderate to low nosema.

PH

 

[The Riviera Kid]

Yes, it could be some disease that I have missed but I couldn't see signs of nosema on the frames. I will see what happens with the brood that I have added.

 

[gavin]

Colonies do play yo-yo in the spring, strong ones turning weaker and the slower ones catch up. This sounds worse than that. I might have wondered about robbing but if there is a good level of stores probably not. Sometimes the layout (or a strong queen next door) encourages workers to drift into other colonies and that might be contributing.

As you are already aware, transferring them to a nuc may help them through this. Or shutting down the space with polystyrene, suitably protected from the bees.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

I would suspect nosema too (N. ceranae isn't associated with dysentry like N. Apis). The queen in this case just stops laying and there's no eggs that the workers can make a queen from. She may spurt back to life for a small patch of brood and you think that she's ok but she's not.

 

[The Riviera Kid]

I would suspect nosema too (N. ceranae isn't associated with dysentry like N. Apis). The queen in this case just stops laying and there's no eggs that the workers can make a queen from. She may spurt back to life for a small patch of brood and you think that she's ok but she's not.

So how can I tell if is N. ceranae? I have just looked it up (admitedly it was on Wikipedia...) and it didn't give any symptoms.

I was reading about Fumagillin as being a suitable "cure", but I have no idea how to go about getting it. Most of the references seemed to be American and one said "Not suitable for vetenary use"...

HELP!!!!!

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

So how can I tell if is N. ceranae? I have just looked it up (admitedly it was on Wikipedia...) and it didn't give any symptoms.

I was reading about Fumagillin as being a suitable "cure", but I have no idea how to go about getting it. Most of the references seemed to be American and one said "Not suitable for vetenary use"...

HELP!!!!!

Unless you have a microscope and aint afraid to use it, you'll have to send off a sample - either to a welcoming microscopist (association may have one) or to the NBU to confirm

 

[Poly Hive]

You are not going to see any symptoms of Nosema on the combs unless it is VERY serious.

Low level infections will only show by a sample inspected by microscope.

PH

 

[The Riviera Kid]

You are not going to see any symptoms of Nosema on the combs unless it is VERY serious.

Ok, I didn't know that.

I have put together a plan. I am going to shake them into a nuc box with completely new comb and a frame of sealed brood from a powerful colony and then sterilise the brood box (though it's not even a year old). Most of the foundation in this colony was only put in last summer anyway and the two older frames (used as part of the nuc that established them) were removed at the start of the season as part of the standard comb replacement cycle.

Later on, when the brood emerges and their numbers are up a bit I will try putting a frame of young eggs from another colony in (rather than brood) to give them a chance to make a queen, but it's too cold for that at the moment. There aren't enough bees in there to keep them warm.

If/when I catch a prime swarm this spring, I will take a big chunk of the adult bees and unite them with this colony.

If it is nosema, then hopefully the new home, plus a jolt upwards in number will help them get back on their feet.

She is a good queen and makes good gentle bees (rarely need smoke) and I don't want to lose her.

 

[enrico]

I don't know what the weather is like there but all this opening and closing can't be doing them much good!! Don't take this the wrong way but sometimes patience is a virtue. The queen well may be ailing and something clearly needs doing but...... Brrrrr! ( here anyway!)

 

[Hebeegeebee]

If its a nosematic queen, then she's doomed and needs replacing. Nosema usually clears up during the summer.
Feed with Hivemakers thymol recipie if you wish.

 

[The Riviera Kid]

I don't know what the weather is like there but all this opening and closing can't be doing them much good!!

Don't worry! I've not been opening the hive 10 times a day! If I do open it, I wait until the sun is out for a warm spell (they have got less frequent and more brief in the last few days) but I am not opening this colony at all "for a look" and only do it when I need to do something.

If its a nosematic queen, then she's doomed and needs replacing. Nosema usually clears up during the summer.
Feed with Hivemakers thymol recipie if you wish.

I've been doing some reading since my last post and realise that this is the case. I also read that the queen is often last to be infected as infected bees tend to avoid her. I don't know if that's truth or myth!!