Dead Bees - What's the best plan, going forward?

[Bodiam Bees]

Hello all,

It is a well discussed topic, I know, but I couldn't find anything in previous chats that quite answered my questions.

Sadly, November saw the loss of 1 out of my 3 hives. Suspecting varroa (despite late Aug. / early Sep. Apiguard) it crystallised my planned December OA vape plan early (arbitrary, possibly, but last year we didn't get a "prolonged cold spell" in which to administer treatment). Drops in the remaining 2 hives were over 200 in each hive on the first vape. The three treatments in November brought numbers down to a handful and a further vape 10 days ago produced 3 or 4.

Having thought that was that, I have just checked fondant levels (tub buried in first layer of PIR over crown board) and noticed a couple of hundred dead bees in one of the hives, on the OMF. One other observation that concerned me was that the guard had been pushed inwards (woodpecker not evident ... mid winter mouse, possibly?). Advice on the following would be hugely appreciated:

1. On the first hive, obviously still heavy with stores, should I scrap the comb and stores, sterilise and re-fit with new fondant for next season? I assume re-feeding to a strong colony is too risky in the absence of a diagnosis.
2. Regarding the current "dying" hive, should I inspect (concern about a, now, week colony and the cold weather) or find someone to post-mortem the dead ones?
3. Any thoughts on whether the latter are a hang over from high mite count in November?

After a torrid time last season, I was delighted to go into the autumn with 3 pretty strong hives. Now, I am in despair at the thought of starting next season with a single hive.

 

[Apple]

On the dying hive.... could the bees get in and out?
What are the stores situation?

Shake out the dead bees, fix the entrance block so that it can not be pushed about... and if low on stores feed the stores from the earlier deadout... if you have anything "nasty" it will probably infect all the nearby colonies anyway?

Hold you breath till Spring and hope that the Saints smile down on you!

Chons da

 

[Amari]

Considering the first dead hive, still heavy with stores, were there lots of dead bees or only a few? If only a few your queen may have failed or been superseded with the new Q failing to mate. If lots of dead bees = thick layer on the OMF then disease is the most likely explanation.
I assume there was no heavy invasion of wasps in the autumn?

 

[Boston Bees]

Is there any brood in the cells of the deadout? If so, you could post some pics of it on here for a postmortem.

Unless there are signs of something nasty like foul brood you can just cut out the sections with brood in and keep the rest of the comb (unless it is old and black of course, in which case ditch it). Certainly keep the honey etc.

How did you see 200 bees on the OMF without lifting the brood box off? Anyway, were the two remaining hives flying today, in the better weather?

 

[Bodiam Bees]

On the dying hive.... could the bees get in and out?
What are the stores situation?

Shake out the dead bees, fix the entrance block so that it can not be pushed about... and if low on stores feed the stores from the earlier deadout... if you have anything "nasty" it will probably infect all the nearby colonies anyway?

Hold you breath till Spring and hope that the Saints smile down on you!

Chons da

Thanks Apple. Yep, entrance pretty much fully open in the dying hive which is still a mystery. What was interesting, I thought, was that my last inspection on the deadout found no more than half a dozen bees, one of which was HMQ, sadly. I agree on the "nasty" prognosis as the three hives are all in close proximity.

 

[Bodiam Bees]

Considering the first dead hive, still heavy with stores, were there lots of dead bees or only a few? If only a few your queen may have failed or been superseded with the new Q failing to mate. If lots of dead bees = thick layer on the OMF then disease is the most likely explanation.
I assume there was no heavy invasion of wasps in the autumn?

Hi Amari ... thanks for your thoughts. The marked Q was one of the last ladies standing, sadly. There was a thick layer of dead bees on OMF ...
Wasps were a real pain in the autumn. My traps were chocka block with them and could have done with refreshing more regularly, at a guess.

 

[Bodiam Bees]

Is there any brood in the cells of the deadout? If so, you could post some pics of it on here for a postmortem.

Unless there are signs of something nasty like foul brood you can just cut out the sections with brood in and keep the rest of the comb (unless it is old and black of course, in which case ditch it). Certainly keep the honey etc.

How did you see 200 bees on the OMF without lifting the brood box off? Anyway, were the two remaining hives flying today, in the better weather?

Hi Boston, thanks for the note. I will have a closer look at the combs on the failed hive and report back with some pics. The 200 bees were on the second hive that I fear is failing (and had the entrance block pushed in which allowed a good gander). We had 10C yesterday and the one good hive was busy flying but the other one, despite no "traffic" still had a bit of a buzz to it when I stuck my ear to the side (sorry, not very scientific, I know!)

 

[Boston Bees]

Hi Boston, thanks for the note. I will have a closer look at the combs on the failed hive and report back with some pics. The 200 bees were on the second hive that I fear is failing (and had the entrance block pushed in which allowed a good gander). We had 10C yesterday and the one good hive was busy flying but the other one, despite no "traffic" still had a bit of a buzz to it when I stuck my ear to the side (sorry, not very scientific, I know!)

Smaller colonies often won't come out on 10C days, but you will hopefully see them over the next week as we get up to warmer temps. Fingers crossed.