Help with dying bees and posting photos

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

saraindevon

New Bee
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
Dartmoor, Devon
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
2
Hi, I'm new to beekeeping and have 2 hives, on last inspection in one of them all bees were dead, the other one right beside it seems fine and active. I wanted to post some pictures since I have no idea what the problem is but have so far failed; got a message saying I need to contact administrator which I did but haven't heard anything back. Any ideas how I can post pics? I'm quite anxious to get some feedback as I'm worried the other hive may end up going the same way-can someone help please?
thanks
sara
 
Hi, I'm new to beekeeping and have 2 hives, on last inspection in one of them all bees were dead, the other one right beside it seems fine and active. I wanted to post some pictures since I have no idea what the problem is but have so far failed; got a message saying I need to contact administrator which I did but haven't heard anything back. Any ideas how I can post pics? I'm quite anxious to get some feedback as I'm worried the other hive may end up going the same way-can someone help please?
thanks
sara
Have you been checking what stores the hives have in them as by the sound of things the dead colony may have starved from maybe getting robbed by the other stronger colony.
 
What Millet said. If they died from starvation then there will likely be dead bees head first in cells and no honey. When was your last inspection? Was there brood, stores and a laying queen?

With your other hive check that they have stores and that they're queenright, look for signs of robbing and put in an entrance reducer if you haven't already. What state is this hive in - boxes, frames of brood, stores?
 
4 post might be why you can't post pictures? Just keep replying until 10 post them yet again, might work.
 
Hi, I'm new to beekeeping and have 2 hives, on last inspection in one of them all bees were dead, the other one right beside it seems fine and active. I wanted to post some pictures since I have no idea what the problem is but have so far failed; got a message saying I need to contact administrator which I did but haven't heard anything back. Any ideas how I can post pics? I'm quite anxious to get some feedback as I'm worried the other hive may end up going the same way-can someone help please?
thanks
sara

It is a concern. Perhaps get someone local to help you out ASAP. As already said check the alive colony for stores and if short then start feeding.
 
Hi, I'm new to beekeeping and have 2 hives, on last inspection in one of them all bees were dead, the other one right beside it seems fine and active. I wanted to post some pictures since I have no idea what the problem is but have so far failed; got a message saying I need to contact administrator which I did but haven't heard anything back. Any ideas how I can post pics? I'm quite anxious to get some feedback as I'm worried the other hive may end up going the same way-can someone help please?
thanks
sara

Sara we need more information where were the dead bees,were there stores in the hive? How long before had you looked in?
If you put another few posts on you can attach the pictures. Just post **** a few times and you're there.
There are not many things that cause catastrophic collapse at this time of year so we should be able to narrow it down for you.
Could it be that your other colony robbed their neighbours?
It could be Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus.
 
Sara we need more information where were the dead bees,were there stores in the hive? How long before had you looked in?
If you put another few posts on you can attach the pictures. Just post **** a few times and you're there.
There are not many things that cause catastrophic collapse at this time of year so we should be able to narrow it down for you.
Could it be that your other colony robbed their neighbours?
It could be Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus.

:iagree:
A description of the combs will probably narrow it down without needing to post photos. If there are good honey arcs and pollen, CBPV may well be the cause. No stores on the frames and it is more than likely starvation due to robbing.
Sorry to hear about your loss but try not to worry.
 
Hi Sara,

Firstly, colonies sometimes die ... it's sad, but don't beat yourself up about it.

In your location there should still be forage about - you can't be too far from heather and it's been a good year for heather this year so it's unlikely to be starvation. As it's only one of your hives then it's more likely to be something to do with this colony and CBPV is pretty rife in some areas - and Devon is one of them.

If all the bees are dead you need to seal this hive up to prevent robbing of any stores left in there by your healthy colony, you don't want to transfer any problems to your healthy colony.

As has been said, there will be lots of help on here to assist in a diagnosis but we do need a lot more information.

When did you last inspect, were they queenright and was there BIAS, were there sufficient stores in there, how big was the colony, where it come from, how long have you had it, have you accidentally done anything that could cause them distress, have you taken a honey crop - all things that would help. Starvation of a colony is obvious - there will be no stores in the hive and there will be dead bees with their heads in the empty cells and their backsides sticking out. Piles of bees dead on the floor is disease or a catastrophic incident ... no bees in the hive and they could have swarmed, several times if you haven't inspected, and what few were left just died - any signs of open queen cells ? Varroa can be the vector and will kill a colony if the levels become overwhelming - had you checked for the levels of mites ?

There's lots of things that can cause a dead out - photos may not be essential but information is ...
 
There will have been symptoms showing prior to the colony dying if it was Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus, but it's not always obvious if you don't know what to look for and it isn't mentioned in a lot of popular beekeeping books. If it is CBPV then there's a good chance it is affecting your other colony too (it's viral). Have a read up on CBPV and see if you can spot any of the symptoms. Or, get an experienced beek to have a look. Your regional bee inspector should be willing to have a look at them, especially if there's a sudden loss like that - they're good people to get to know as they are very knowledgeable. If you have answers to Pargyle's questions then it cuts out the guesswork.

It is sad to loose bees, I lost two colonies to CBPV in my second winter as a beekeeper and know how it feels.
 
If not already registered, I'd recommend that you sign up on Beebase - that would trigger a visit from the seasonal bee inspector. I will pm you with the inspector's details so that you can contact him directly.

CVB
 
Having had contact with a friends colony that suffered CBPV and the "shakeout" treatment (two shakeouts) which did clear the symptoms from that hive but took most of the next season to build up into a strong colony without much yield, when one of my own succumbed in a following season I culled the colony, sterilised the hive and installed a split.
It does seem to me that CBPV is more common than sometimes thought as it is easier to blame the observed effects on spray poisoning. In fact until my friend discovered it not one of my association members had encountered it but a few knew about spray poisoning.
 
Hi Millet

Thanks for that, I hadn't contemplated that option. The truth is that I've got not experience and I don't know what I'm looking at to be honest. I inherited the 2 hives from someone that was suddenly moving away and was thrown at the deep end so to speak; have tried getting someone from local BKA to have a look but so far no one has been available so I'm a bit in the dark; that's why I though pictures may help as those of you with the experience I'm sure will immediately recognize what's going on...there is the chance that one of the colonies swarm before I move them to my place so maybe was queenless(?) would that cause them to die? anyway, thanks for your thoughts..
 
Hi Softley
Thanks for replying. Like I mentioned on previous message not sure I can identify different types of cell, this all happen very quickly and unexpected, me taking the bees on, and I'm learning as I go along...Yes, there were some bees head first into cells but not all of them, most were dead at the bottom floor and look very dry(?)
The only thing I'm sure of is that the beehive that's well has got a queen and some honey. Both hives had 2 brood boxes, not super and no queen excluder...
thanks again
 
Hello Erica and Swarm, thanks for your reply and questions, that helps, sometimes one doesn't even know what the right information to give is. So, I think most of the comb look empty except maybe some grub; also some of the comb look like a bit deformed(?) and some have a red tinge to it..there was also some kind of little white dots which may be normal but I wasn't sure what they are...hopefully will be able to post the pics soon; thanks again
 

Latest posts

Back
Top