Surprising dead-out

[SWEET]

Poorly mated late superseded queen? - Queen in image 2 looks unmarked (was she marked), lack of winter bees/drone layer, varroa did the rest.

 

[magor]

Yes they differ physiologically but winter bees is a useful descriptor

them called diutinus bees ,those who ve not fed brood in them nurse life , ve kept enlarged them fat body produce large amount of vitellogenin

them not only appear in winter but anytime new nurses ve no brood or very few brood to feed for example after summer brood break or when split making sealed brood nuc without introduce them a mated Q but a QC

as for the thread i think thats the neggatives affects from the threatment, colonies became weaker afteer and then roberry/war started from stronger hives of the apiary under the cover of strong heavy smell of such treat like apilife var , i do no ve experience with maqs but it happens once in my life to smell that aplife var and oh boy.......... keep it away from me , i prefer to let my bees die from varroa than to suffer with that smell them and me

 

[JamezF]

I don't recall hearing the word "diutinus" before, but one of the top results when searching for it is (perhaps no surprises here):

Diutinus bees - The Apiarist

It's an interesting piece. Worth a read.

It struck me whilst out pottering in the workshop just now that diutinus (I'm so going to use that word all the time now; or at least for as long as I can remember it ) bees are a beautiful adaptation. We know that older bees can to some extent "regress" to earlier behaviour, but the ability for existing nurse bees to go into a state of "arrested development" when brood numbers fall or become zero so that the best possible care can be given if/when brood levels increase, regardless of the time of year, is a brilliant survival behaviour.

I also found myself wondering whether, by referring to them as "long-lived bees", we might be inappropriately applying an anthropocentric view of aging. Why should "the number of days lived" be a measure of the progression through life ("age") of a honey bee (or any insect, come to that)? Perhaps it could be "the number of roles performed" or something along those lines.

James

 

[Kaz]

Actually, there is the odd cell with what appears to be capped, ostensibly drone brood (? .... so potentially a queenless colony with laying workers ?? - maybe the MAQS did for her ???)

I used MAQS for the first time last August (never again!) and lost 4 queens as a result (out of 15) Of course the colonies tried to make emergency queens but the MAQS had also damaged the brood so they failed. Could be the cause?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I used MAQS for the first time last August (never again!) and lost 4 queens as a result (out of 15) Of course the colonies tried to make emergency queens but the MAQS had also damaged the brood so they failed. Could be the cause?

A familiar story for some of us. I used MAQS the first year it was offered for sale in the uk, eager to try something new and despite reading some horror stories on the USA beekeeping forums. Similar result.

 

[Moobee]

I used MAQS for the first time last August (never again!) and lost 4 queens as a result (out of 15) Of course the colonies tried to make emergency queens but the MAQS had also damaged the brood so they failed. Could be the cause?

There not known as Magic Away Queen Strips for nothing….

 

[Kaz]

A familiar story for some of us. I used MAQS the first year it was offered for sale in the uk, eager to try something new and despite reading some horror stories on the USA beekeeping forums. Similar result.

Such a shame, I really liked the idea of a treatment that's done and dusted in a week. I guess it's just too aggressive. A post mortem read of the instructions found the small print stating that heavily infested colonies are more likely to result in queen losses. Not ideal then, those are the colonies you really need to treat

 

[Beesnaturally]

I have had two hives with very similar stories and their demise is a complete mystery.
Loads of stores and bees with there heads in the cells right next to cells with stores in.
As with you the hives were well populated, confirmed by a substantial pile of corpses on the mesh floor.
Varrorsis was my only conclusion but like you mine were all treated end of August with Apilife and dribble with OA in December.
Another beekeeping mystery?

Or are they just poor genetic stock?

 

[Swarm]

Those are the ones you mark down for requeening.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Those are the ones you mark down for requeening.

I tend not to requeen deadouts - they always seem to fail

 

[magor]

Or are they just poor genetic stock?

it's not all genes , not that simple

 

[Swarm]

I tend not to requeen deadouts - they always seem to fail

Yes a bit like your humour.

 

[Beesnaturally]

it's not all genes , not that simple

Have you ever heard the expression 'Nature vs Nurture'?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Yes a bit like your humour.

at least I have one

 

[Kristin]

Hi all,
I am from Denmark, and I have my bees in Copenhagen, where we are many hobby beekeepers treating against varroa mites at different times.
The photos are similar to my own hives and others where the colony died due to varroa and acute bee paralysis / deform wing virus... You can see the brood area where some of the new bees died meanwhile they were hatching. Four of my seven hives took part in a research project and the analysis showed high amount of acute bee paralysis and deform wing virus in one of the samples, and this hive died suddently around november/december looking exactly as the photos. I have had bees for 20 years and I am good at spotting bees with deformed wings but I have seen none in 2022. The researcher told me he had also seen none in 2022...
If the colony had died earlier, the dead bees on the floor would have been missing, and you would only see the dead brood and the few bees on the frames. I often spot the queen together with the bees on the frames but not always.
So you have treated your bees and after that they somehow got new mites. Perhaps they got the mites by stealing honey from other colonies breaking down due to varroa or some bees from the surrounding apiaries passed by or they met the mites in the flowers...
Next question is what to do about it next year...
In Copenhagen, we are going to try for the first time to announce a week to be our "treating varroa together week"...
I am learning a lot from your beekeeping forum, and I hope you don't mind that I give my opinion.
Good luck to you and your bees.
Best regards, Kristin

 

[Ian123]

Hi Kristin…. Always good to hear from beekeepers in other parts of the world. There appear to be some here reporting similar late season losses, I think your theory may not be far from the truth as we had a mild long autumn here. As to an approved treatment period for the Uk I wouldn’t hold my breath we are not that organised….. Ian

 

[pargyle]

As to an approved treatment period for the Uk I wouldn’t hold my breath we are not that organised….. Ian

More's the pity - even I would join in if I thought there was going to be a national event. It was something I suggested to our association years ago .. met with total abject apathy .... one wonders why the BBKA don't organise a similar event ... thereagain ... perhaps not !

 

[Kristin]

Even the members of the board of the local beekeeping club cannot decide, so it will be our "president" who decides which week it will be. I am so tired of losing my strongest colonies to varroa, so I am ready to accept whatever he suggests... And I have the feeling that most of the beekeepers have reached the point, where they agree we have to try something new...

 

[Ely]

It may be the same case as one of my colonies. A very late and failed supercedure. I expect my colony to perish soon, although they still seem to be hanging on in there.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi all,
I am from Denmark, and I have my bees in Copenhagen, where we are many hobby beekeepers treating against varroa mites at different times.
The photos are similar to my own hives and others where the colony died due to varroa and acute bee paralysis / deform wing virus... You can see the brood area where some of the new bees died meanwhile they were hatching. Four of my seven hives took part in a research project and the analysis showed high amount of acute bee paralysis and deform wing virus in one of the samples, and this hive died suddently around november/december looking exactly as the photos. I have had bees for 20 years and I am good at spotting bees with deformed wings but I have seen none in 2022. The researcher told me he had also seen none in 2022...
If the colony had died earlier, the dead bees on the floor would have been missing, and you would only see the dead brood and the few bees on the frames. I often spot the queen together with the bees on the frames but not always.
So you have treated your bees and after that they somehow got new mites. Perhaps they got the mites by stealing honey from other colonies breaking down due to varroa or some bees from the surrounding apiaries passed by or they met the mites in the flowers...
Next question is what to do about it next year...
In Copenhagen, we are going to try for the first time to announce a week to be our "treating varroa together week"...
I am learning a lot from your beekeeping forum, and I hope you don't mind that I give my opinion.
Good luck to you and your bees.
Best regards, Kristin

Hi Kristin.
What do you treat with?