Help and advice.

[WelshPaul]

Hey all, right where do I start!!!! Before Xmas I had a healthy hive, I treated with OA between Xmas and new year. They were in a national hive with bees over 7 frames, 9 frames of stores. 2kg of fondant on top. Then I went away for four week. Two weeks into it, I had a friend check the hive for me. Bees gone, some bees looked like they were trapped coming out of the comb. Some dead bees inside mouse guard but only about 20. When I was stripping down the hive some of the stores broke and I licked my finger, it tasted very bitter/sour. Has anyone got any ideas?

 

[Hivemaker.]

Did they have nosema? oxalic drenching often wipes them out around 12 days after treatment, if they have a slightly heavy nosema.

Or could be the varroa had already done there nasty work,and the combination of viruses and oxalic was the last straw...you had bees with deformed wings at the start of december, i notice by your previous posts.

 

[BKF Admin]

I agree with HM.

Send me a sample and I can check them for you if you like.

The bitter stores could of been fermented or maybe Ivy.

 

[Luminos]

Sorry about your loss, WelshPaul

 

[For want of a better word]

as HM above
bitter tasting stores?
did you feed thymolated syrup after treating with Apiguard etc?
also..
Was roof insulated.... hope you did not stick a couple of matchsticks under the crownboard for ventilation!

Maybe the type of bee was wrong for your locality... try to replace with some reared locally?

Disinfect, scrub, scorch and re wax and start over.... Take heart it is the way it goes sometimes

 

[WelshPaul]

No match sticks, lol. Admin, pm me where I can send a sample. It's like the absconded rather than died because there was so few left compared to what was in there when I treated with OA.

 

[drstitson]

probably Ivy honey. did you feed much in autumn or did you rely on their foraging?

 

[Eyeman]

Hi
Oxalic acid killing a weak or sick colony results in lots of dead bees on the floor.
It sounds like your colony may have absconded.
Was there a hostile environment in the hive?- I've not seen fondant cause a colony to abscond but have seen it with a leaky feeder which was dripping over the bees.
Alec

 

[TOBY-3652]

is it possable someone could of pinched them????

 

[WelshPaul]

Very weird, they've buggered off for some reason. They are in my garden so can't see anyone could have pinched them.

 

[biglongdarren]

Hey sorry for the loss,when did you find them all gone?when you noticed them over 7frames where they clustered or active in the hive?
Darren.

 

[Hivemaker.]

If they had n ceranae, then there would very likely be very few dead bees in the hive,unless the weather was cold. Start of january was mild,with bees flying well in many places in the south.

The lifespan of infected bees is often reduced and infected colonies often dwindle in late winter or early spring. In cases of Nosema ceranae, colony death can be even faster than with Nosema apis and may take only a few days – foraging is particularly affected and bees are often too weak to return from foraging flights.

Did you notice any crawlers in the hive area.

Also was there any brood present.

I know there was brood on the 10th of november,if the below is the same hive.
Quick inspection, eggs and different stages of larvae and brood over 4 frames, plenty of stores, insulation on, mouse gaurd on and shut up for winter.

And this obsevation on the 1st of december............

Sat watching the hive today and seen three bees walk out then back in with very deformed wings. Should I be worried about this at the moment?

 

[biglongdarren]

Would it be possible that something maybe happened to the queen in this hive over winter and all the bees that was seen in the hive at Christmas have been that busy with the mild weather have just died out in the fields somewhere?
Darren

 

[WelshPaul]

No brood, stores in a nice shape around an empty rugby ball shape. No crawlers either.

 

[Winker]

If they had n ceranae, then there would very likely be very few dead bees in the hive,unless the weather was cold. Start of january was mild,with bees flying well in many places in the south.

The lifespan of infected bees is often reduced and infected colonies often dwindle in late winter or early spring. In cases of Nosema ceranae, colony death can be even faster than with Nosema apis and may take only a few days – foraging is particularly affected and bees are often too weak to return from foraging flights.

Did you notice any crawlers in the hive area.

Look around the front of the hive to see if you can see dead bees in the grass around the front of the hive. I had a similar problem.

 

[BBG]

Did they have nosema? oxalic drenching often wipes them out around 12 days after treatment, if they have a slightly heavy nosema.

Or could be the varroa had already done there nasty work,and the combination of viruses and oxalic was the last straw...you had bees with deformed wings at the start of december, i notice by your previous posts.

HM, apart from avoiding OA, what do you do in the way of varroa/nosema/etc treatment at this time of year through to April?