Dead bees in new empty hive

[mandabow]

while i try and resist posting on before finishing and get on with reading the thread of doom i have a random question:

I bought an omlet beehaus about a yr and a half ago when i was made redundant and had moved back to my mums. sadly (literally weeks before i ordered the omlet) my mentor had died (having not seen him for a couple of years while working away i had no idea, happliy rolled up at his to make his day and say i was finally ready to have that free nuc i was always promised for yrs of helping out in my holidays at school. only to find out he had passed on )

anywhoo, few months went by and the spring came, and put waxmoth traps around to see what the area was/is like and try and cut down local population. was going to buy a nuc, balked at the price a bit. then got another job miles away and it all went on the back burner.

now working vaguely closer to home, so decided to get off my ass an actaully get some.

went to check the hive this weekend and to my horror found about 50 or so dead bees in it. no sign of a queen, no obvious signs of disease.. they look liek theyve been there som time (totally dried up) about half hove their toungues stickign out and heads are turned to the side.

I'm guessing that they were scouts looking for a new home, who's sisters going back to get the rest of the swar found it wasn't there or something. or maybe a swarm popped in and decided not to stay and these gals died during the short period they were in residence (no comb has been drawn)

or perhaps they smelt the wax inside ont he frames and were trying to rob another hive.. or popped in separatly to shelter from the rain/ i don't know

slight concern as my knowledge is somewhat out of date as to the diseases we have in the UK (literally 14 yrs sice i actually handled hives on a frequent basis!!). should i send them off somewhere to be tested? or can i as i suspect assume they died of naturalish causes and happily put in a new nuc sometime soon?

thanks a million in advance for any suggestions
manda

 

[Tom Bick]

Whats a waxmoth trap like and why trap them. They can be a problem but without them things can be a lot worse for beekeepers.

 

[mandabow]

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/waxmothtrap.html except i cut up the banana into small pieces.. seeminly wasting my time oops

didn't catch any, which i took as a good sign.. not heard of them being a wanted hivesharer before unless your gonna leave old empty brood frames about that could have foul brood in it. even then i'm not so sure passing through an intestinal tract of a maggoty thing would render it harmless and there is also spreading it round the hive as they wander. + to other hives.

theres a lots of nooks and crannies in th beehause (which i wasn't expecting having had similar issues with the beehause cub and red mite i thoght they'd have worked that out.. hey ho.

filled a lot of the holes with aquarium silicone. but stil no doubt missed some and don;t really want to be inundated with moths, do i?

eeep

 

[Tom Bick]

The bees on the whole deal with the wax moth obviously in a bad infestation it can be a problem but they do clean up or when we had them feral disused nest sites its natures way of cleaning up after itself.
They can and are a problem with stored comb but from my experience the bees deal with them ok. As to if they can deal with afb or efb I don’t know about that but if the comb has gone perhaps less to attract the bees.

 

[mandabow]

yup in a strong colony but i'll be starting with a 5 frame nuc and a newly laying queen, bees/brood from a number of different hives all getting used to their new home, new queen smell and new geography..

so i'd imagine i'm gonna be pretty weak for a while

didnt wanna take the risk if there were loads in the area (woodlands to the back) then i'd have wanted to keep putting traps up until they're established.. as it is i don't think i'll wory about it.


don't think they have cause the deaths.. they were hung well over 50 yards away from the hive.

 

[mandabow]

EFB AFB wise, i was told that they clean it up when ferral hives die of it.. but in my mind that just makes them a vector for spreading it..

hive in wild dies of foul brood.. wax moths come in to "clean up the site"
once clean (and possibly even during "cleaning process" if wax moth colony is large)

moths of waxmoth emerge form crysalis, walk over contaminated ground then fly off to find another hive to wander ove eat in.. all very well that the bees turf them out, but the damage is done, spores are in a nice cozy warm site, and waxmoths have inadvertantly bagged themselves a new easy breeding ground in the future.

similarly the ""clean site" once the moths have all moved on is now nice and empty and smelling slightly of wax and propolys.. ready for a new unsuspecting swarm to think it's a good place to set up home.. bit of warmth bit of moisture form fresh nectar being brought it, and any spores left in faecal matter of moths or that they had not eaten can pop open and start to grow too.


needless to say i'd rather not have waxmoth, or visiting drones, or wasps or anything.. i want to wrap my bees in cotton wool in some respects.. lol totally hypocritically to my views on how best to save the ferral bee, hey ho