Sometimes in beekeeping, luck is just not on your side, and you find a beehive has died out. Surviving winter in my first year of beekeeping was something I wanted very much to see in my honey bee colonies. I made a lot of preparations for the colonies but still ended up with two colonies out of the game by the end of winter.
I was lucky that the colonies had not died from the disease. I guessed condensation or poor ventilation to be the causes. In subsequent years, all colonies have successfully wintered. You could bet that experience with the colonies and knowing how the honey bees behave helps me get them through winter safely. Recently, I have felt confident enough and implemented major buildups in late winter. The colonies I tried it on sprung their way into Spring and gave bountiful harvests that year.
The experience of having to deal with two dead beehives was harrowing. However, I got it done. For that time you might find yourself in a sad situation, here are the major tools I found handy;
Tweezers – You are dealing with both dead bees and larvae dead n its cells when cleaning a beehive that has suffered a die-out. After brushing out adult bees, the bees in honey comb and larvae must be pulled out. Tweezers do the job well.
Air Compressor – this was the best thing that happened to me when I needed to clean out the dead beehives. It was very great at blowing out dead bees from the beehive box by box, frame after frame. At close range to the brood comb, the air compressor helped eject dead larva from cells.
Sharp Knife – cutting out comb in some cases was the only way out. I kept the comb for later processing and removal of the dead larva. This was because I needed the frames to be used in the beehives. The beekeeping operation was still small, so there were not many extra frames available.
I was lucky that the colonies had not died from the disease. I guessed condensation or poor ventilation to be the causes. In subsequent years, all colonies have successfully wintered. You could bet that experience with the colonies and knowing how the honey bees behave helps me get them through winter safely. Recently, I have felt confident enough and implemented major buildups in late winter. The colonies I tried it on sprung their way into Spring and gave bountiful harvests that year.
The experience of having to deal with two dead beehives was harrowing. However, I got it done. For that time you might find yourself in a sad situation, here are the major tools I found handy;
Tweezers – You are dealing with both dead bees and larvae dead n its cells when cleaning a beehive that has suffered a die-out. After brushing out adult bees, the bees in honey comb and larvae must be pulled out. Tweezers do the job well.
Air Compressor – this was the best thing that happened to me when I needed to clean out the dead beehives. It was very great at blowing out dead bees from the beehive box by box, frame after frame. At close range to the brood comb, the air compressor helped eject dead larva from cells.
Sharp Knife – cutting out comb in some cases was the only way out. I kept the comb for later processing and removal of the dead larva. This was because I needed the frames to be used in the beehives. The beekeeping operation was still small, so there were not many extra frames available.
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