We are under attack! Advice sought

[gregior]

Hmm looks pretty bad on that latest vid , i'm no expert but i'd say that could be due to pesticide,there were a few bees at the start of the vid that were behaving in a similar way to insects that have been sprayed with fly killer

 

[Canary Honey]

http://youtu.be/zopAa0t303w
Fairly quiet tonight.

Thank you all for your input. If it turns out that it looks like a chemical incident even though it is not agricultural, does it need to be reported? Or should it be reported?

The bigger hive which has several frames of brood and three supers has the most carnage, the second invited swarm is only on about four frames in the brood box, so it seems a roughly equal percentage of each hive laying in the grass. Looking at the dead bees, I can't find a drone, but then I didn't look that hard as I would be in the flightpath.
I had quickly donned the suit and opened the large hive this morning (to remove an extra cover after a comment about overheating) and removed two supers to try to see if there were dead bees inside, but soon panicked and put it back when I thought about the possibility of robbing.

So if someone has sprayed something nearby, then the nectar will be contaminated and probably not that great for the bees and not appealing to me either?

 

[Dishmop]

You got fields nearby..?

 

[oliver90owner]

I have changed my mind after seeing the later videos. I now think it is a case of poisoning. I would not think there is much agricultural spraying going on at the current time, but all spraying must be logged by farmers and contractors. It could be a local gardener or it might be malicious. I would recommend collecting a sample for analysis and reporting the matter. There may be other local beeks in the same boat

RAB

 

[Itchy]

If someone has treated a nearby colony with Bendiocarb, and your bees have been robbing the dead nest, it could cause a slow death of your hive. Gather up some bees and get them tested for chemicals.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

If someone has treated a nearby colony with Bendiocarb, and your bees have been robbing the dead nest, it could cause a slow death of your hive. Gather up some bees and get them tested for chemicals.

Stuff of nightmares.

Good luck in any case, Canary Honey.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Thank you all for your input. If it turns out that it looks like a chemical incident even though it is not agricultural, does it need to be reported? Or should it be reported?

Call out your RBI or SBI and ask them to have a look.

Collect a sample of 200 bees, put them in the freezer for now and if SBI also suspects poisoning you can send them away for testing. Don't worry too much if there aren't 200 hundred, but it should be a lot rather than just half a dozen.

Link posted earlier by alldigging
https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?sectionid=33

Your association should (might) have a spray liaison officer, check with your local Sec if you don't have a name.

 

[Canary Honey]

Call out your RBI or SBI and ask them to have a look.

Collect a sample of 200 bees, put them in the freezer for now and if SBI also suspects poisoning you can send them away for testing. Don't worry too much if there aren't 200 hundred, but it should be a lot rather than just half a dozen.

Link posted earlier by alldigging
https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/index.cfm?sectionid=33

Your association should (might) have a spray liaison officer, check with your local Sec if you don't have a name.

Beejam is in the freezer, email sent. I may ring as well.

I am very near the railway, although they are unlikely to spray pesticides they may use herbicides or defoliators? In high enough concentrations these wouldn't be very nice?

inside the main hive seems relatively normal this morning, mesh floor is clear.

 

[Dishmop]

inside the main hive seems relatively normal this morning, mesh floor is clear.

The other bees would by now have cleared out the dead and are getting back to normal.

It seems as if all your dead probably went onto crops that had been sprayed and died when they got back to the hives.

Or, as I said, somebody got into your garden and sprayed all the flying bees.

Which part of Norwich are you in?

 

[Fatbee]

Despite knowing I'm a beekeeper willing to try cut outs I have had several people say they have called pest control to dispose of bees in houses because it's easier - I have tried to urge them to block up the entrances to prevent robbing but I'm not confident this will be done in all cases. So could be residues from nests from destroyed colonies being robbed out by your bees.

Can't imagine there is much large scale pesticide use going on this late in season but you certainly can't trust some gardeners who have all manner of nasties lurking in the garden shed.

Looks like you are doing the right thing and I really hope it's not terminal for your colonies. Good luck and keep us all posted

 

[Heather]

Ant powder in the vicinity can do exactly this to bees.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Can't imagine there is much large scale pesticide use going on this late in season ...

It's been quite a swarmy year, I'm betting a fair number of swarms went unnoticed and have ended up in chimneys etc.

 

[Fatbee]

You're right. I meant large scale as in crop spraying because they will have flowered, beans, rape etc

I think the killing of bees in chimneys etc will be huge this year which is a real shame and can lead on to other problems if robbing occurs

 

[SireeDubs]

I am very near the railway, although they are unlikely to spray pesticides they may use herbicides or defoliators? In high enough concentrations these wouldn't be very nice?

Have just asked a friend who works for a key rail network maintainer. They spray around lines quite often, particularly where knotweed is a problem. Usually herbicides and they try to be as careful as possible due to often being next to gardens etc. It's a possibility though...

 

[Canary Honey]

Which part of Norwich are you in?

Tried to pm you but you don't like junk mail it seems. NR1 obviously! Whitlingham Park is some way away on the other side of the river, only has a couple of fields before you need to cross the bypass to real countryside.

The planted shrubs and trees of the bypass offered some tasty looking forage earlier but it must be over now.

Just another railway related angle I came up with, I know petrol kills bees, so is it safe to assume that diesel also does? We only need fly past Crown point and we will be picking up fumes.
The Buddleia all over the railway are just one reason why my location looked good to me to offer a home to bees.

 

[TOBY-3652]

Ant powder in the vicinity can do exactly this to bees. too true I have been to 3 houses this week that have had ants and you can tell which ones they are even if you didn't have a number.. householder chucked cans of the stuff about the house and at 1 house on the garden too.. so it is possible that bees visit these houses for the flowers and take it home