Dead bees outside hive

[Willardx]

MHi all. I have just discovered a big pile of dead bees outside one of my hives. Is this something that I should be concerned about. My first instinct was to open up and put some fondant on. I have attached a pic.

 

[Willardx]

This is the a small colony from a cast swarm on 4 or 5 frames by the way.

 

[madasafish]

Bees die all winter and when the weather warms up, the undertaker bees remove them from the hive.

The only thing you can do is ensure the hive has enough stores... worrying will help neither you nor the bees.
All my hives have piles of dead bees outside in winter: in summer the sparrows remove and eat them so you don't notice the dead.

 

[Willardx]

Cheers for that.

 

[Angularity]

I have two colonies at right angles to each other, next to my office at home. One always has a long (2m) slick of dead bees in front of it, the other never has any. Some colonies are tidier than others.

 

[wisewelding]

Hello I'm Ken. And just joined in because I have a problem. .. what can we new beekeepers do to keep our bees alive in winter. ... this is the 3rd time...so far.
Before this freeze we had here in Midland NC. The bees where flying when the sun was out... maybe then they took flight to live else where.. but why leave ? Today sunny no wind. So I opened up the box used a flashlight every frame empty I have not pull any frame to look in the cells yet... to see if any thing in them .. ???
What can I do the next time? Move them indoors like a green house or put that 2 inch blue foam around it? Or buy a small heat pad for lizards slide it in the opening to help keep them warm? Please help me. . Thanks, Ken Wise. .

Sent from my SM-P605V using Tapatalk

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Feed them plenty of sugar syrup in the autumn, then stop fiddling with them all winter.

 

[MartinL]

Feed them plenty of sugar syrup in the autumn, then stop fiddling with them all winter.

If they're all dead, there'd be none to bring out the bodies.

If you open them up in the middle of winter they may be all dead before spring!

 

[Beefriendly]

If you open them up in the middle of winter they may be all dead before spring!

If they have used up all their stores then not opening them up to feed fondant will achieve the same result of dead bees.
Judgement call needed.

 

[Beagle23]

My third winter as a Beek and I've had a carpet of dead bees outside my hive each year, and each year the colony has been fine. Entirely natural for the colony to reduce in size during this season, there's no point having thousands of useless, hungry mouths around when there are no supplies coming in