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fiddlerjon

New Bee
Joined
Jul 8, 2011
Messages
3
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0
Location
United Kingdom
Hive Type
TBH
Number of Hives
4
I have discovered over the past few weeks that my colonies have now all died. Last week I visited my first (in its third year now) only to find that it too has died. There is no evidence of disease, just loads of dead bees. Today I extracted around 7 litres of honey from two supers, so there was no shortage of stores over the winter. Also, I noticed that there was a lot of honey in the making in uncapped cells in the supers, which I discarded. What is bothering me is why?

I rehomed a cast in summer in a broodbox at a friend's house, it was fed, but it too did not make it - nor did my other three hives (all top bars). The two that I have referred to in the previous paragraph were both BN hives.

All the colonies seemed healthy before the winter, varroa was minimal to non-existent.

This has not been a good year for me. Any advice? All the hives were in the Blackpool area.

Jonathan
 
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Hi FiddlerJon

Sorry to hear of your losses

I lost 7 colony's over the winter, but can identify a cause for each of them.

If you cannot see an obvious reason, then it could be worth having your local inspector to take a few dead bees to test.

You are not the only one that has lost all their hives. I know a number of beekeepers in my area the has lost the majority or all of their bees.
Think of this as a positive, which shows that is not necessarily your husbandry that was the issue, but pretty awful year.

I am a part of the European FERA project. The inspector congratulated me on my beekeeping husbandry, and he has taken some of my policy's for his own bees (and wants to reference my bees in his talks). None of the bees that are part of the project failed, but still lost a quarter.

Consider it a very bad year, pick yourself up and hope for a better one...

BTW, 'if' you are a Blackpool FC fan, may I be the first to thank you and your team. If it were not your team holding Bolton to a draw, then my team would never have made the playoffs. :hat:

Cheers
Pete
 
Supers? TBH's? I am confused as those do not seem connected. Sorry, but the only advice is to start again, but ensure stronger colonies for next autumn.
 
Supers? TBH's? I am confused as those do not seem connected. Sorry, but the only advice is to start again, but ensure stronger colonies for next autumn.

He says he has TBH and nationals hence the reference to supers!
E
 
My only suggestion with the nationals is that maybe with the supers on the area was too big for them to heat....stupid question but I presume you did remove the QE,'s?
Losses seem so high.... During winter I make a point of listening to my hives, buzz and they are alive....no buzz or weak buzz and something is wrong, I am surprised you have only just found out that they are all dead. Nothing else I can say....try again! Best of luck
E
 
Mostly it seems the dead outs seem to have been down to poorly mated last seasons queens and an extended winter... perhaps this question should be the starter for another thread?
 
Exposed location +thin wooden hives + low insulation=increased heatloss=increased chance of colony failure by one of:
  • starvation
  • disease
Again a super does not make a hive colder it just makes the warmest place to be the super. To change the heat loss you need to change one of the following:
  1. the surface area of the top volume
  2. the thickness of the material
  3. the material conductivity
  4. the air flow through the top.(zero is least lost heat)
To increase chance for survival :

  1. increase heat input : only have large colonies
  2. reduce heat losses by one or more of
    • decrease top volume surface area(e.g dont use topbar)
    • insulate
    • use poly hives,
    • move to less exposed site
 
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Exposed location +thin wooden hives + low insulation=increased heatloss=increased chance of colony failure by one of:
starvation
disease

Again a super does not make a hive colder it just makes the warmest place to be the super. To change the heat loss you need to change one of the following:

the surface area of the top volume
the thickness of the material
the material conductivity
the air flow through the top.

To increase chance for survival :
increase heat input : only have large colonies
reduce heat losses: insulate, use poly hives, move to less exposed site

And once all of the above has been achieved... what then... especially if microscopy turns a negative...... neo nico whatsits?
 
And once all of the above has been achieved... what then... especially if microscopy turns a negative...... neo nico whatsits?

Its all probability - You can improve the chances, the probability, but you cant predict the outcome for a single colony or a group of colonies...

It should have been Schroedingers bees not a cat.

Until you open the box in the spring the colony is potentially both alive and dead... even the the very act of opening can change the outcome...

Searching for causality in a stoachastic system can be futile, and is definitely frustrating
 
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Its all probability - You can improve the chances, the probability, but you cant predict the outcome for a single colony or a group of colonies...

It should have been Schroedingers bees not a cat.

Until you open the box in the spring the colony is potentially both alive and dead... even the the very act of opening can change the outcome...

Searching for causality in a stoachastic system can be futile, and is definitely frustrating


Bee philosophy...... I like the idea!
 
Thanks for the advice, everyone, I am most grateful for your input. Sorry about the terrible heading :)
 
Speaking to someone today who has lost a few of his colonies - same thing, all dead but still plenty of stores - Isolation starvation seems to have happened a lot this winter, the temperature rises, bees move around the hive, temp plummets again and the bees are back in a very tight cluster away from the stores and can't move back.
 
Speaking to someone today who has lost a few of his colonies - same thing, all dead but still plenty of stores - Isolation starvation seems to have happened a lot this winter, the temperature rises, bees move around the hive, temp plummets again and the bees are back in a very tight cluster away from the stores and can't move back.
Clustering is rife with dangers as it reduces the colonies abilities to deal with events. e.g. isolation stavation, mice invasion, wax moth larvae invasion, it can also be argued that the closer contact increases the chance of disease and parasite spreading . The cessation of colony hygiene operations , grooming, hive cleaning, throwing out the dead can be argued to be an increased risk.

Clustering trades off almost certain death from hypothermia/starvation against increased chances of these dangers.


The properties of the natural habitat of bees suggest that is clustering is far from being inevitable every winter, unlike in most hives where it has to occur for large portions of the year.
 
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My next colony is going to be well insulated over winter.

Well worth the investment and in relative terms, inexpensive.

Those little in/out digital thermometers are handy, too. Popped into a plastic bag and pinned to the outside of the box with the "outside" sensor poked in and resting between top bars, they afford an at-a-glance check on inner temperature. They can be had for a fiver from the usual suspects.

May the best of your past be the worst of your future.
 
.....

Until you open the box in the spring the colony is potentially both alive and dead... even the the very act of opening can change the outcome...
..........

Clustering is rife with dangers as it reduces the colonies abilities to deal with events. e.g. isolation stavation, mice invasion, wax moth larvae invasion...........

In my opinion lifting the lid briefly in suitable conditions to check the size and position of the cluster etc. and intervene as necessary is part of winter management. Insulation makes for optimum conditions but possibly more/as important is having minimum unoccupied space and minimum ventilation.
 
Clustering is rife with dangers as it reduces the colonies abilities to deal with events. e.g. isolation stavation, mice invasion, wax moth larvae invasion, it can also be argued that the closer contact increases the chance of disease and parasite spreading . The cessation of colony hygiene operations , grooming, hive cleaning, throwing out the dead can be argued to be an increased risk.

Clustering trades off almost certain death from hypothermia/starvation against increased chances of these dangers.


The properties of the natural habitat of bees suggest that is clustering is far from being inevitable every winter, unlike in most hives where it has to occur for large portions of the year.

that is terrible!
 

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