Dead out

[Doey]

 

[Doey]

This is a hive that going into winter had tried to supercede the queen and failed, at last inspection there was no brood so this wasn't a surprise.
From what I think the queen failed to mate, does that look like an un mated Queen in the attached pics?

 

[pargyle]

This is a hive that going into winter had tried to supercede the queen and failed, at last inspection there was no brood so this wasn't a surprise.
From what I think the queen failed to mate, does that look like an un mated Queen in the attached pics?

Varroa - there's at least a couple of bees I can see in that picture with signs of DWV. Did you treat them in the autumn for varroa and what did you treat the with ?

 

[The Poot]

She looks small and there’s not many bees in the picture; if that’s all that were in the colony you might be right in my opinion.

 

[Penninetrader]

She looks small and there’s not many bees in the picture; if that’s all that were in the colony you might be right in my opinion.

Was all those bees on the floor when you opened the box, how many did you find still on the frames ?

 

[Doey]

Varroa - there's at least a couple of bees I can see in that picture with signs of DWV. Did you treat them in the autumn for varroa and what did you treat the with ?

Yes they were vaped in the autumn with OA but they where already starting to dwindle by that stage

 

[Doey]

Was all those bees on the floor when you opened the box, how many did you find still on the frames ?

Maybe only a hundred or so on the frames the rest where on the floor, kind of what I was expecting but I still had the hope that there was a young queen that hadn't started laying at my last inspection

 

[pargyle]

What led you to think they had tried to supersede ? How late in the season did the new queen emerge ?

How many times did you vape them ?

Sorry - we may never know what's happened ,, the best you can hope for is an educated guess. In some respects it's best to put it behind you, chalk it up to an experience you'd rather not repeat and move on. It happens, it's sad but bees sometimes die out.

 

[ericbeaumont]

they had tried to supersede

There are drones in that photograph, and bees often retain drones late in the season or over winter if supersedure or queen problems are apparent.