Whole colony deserted, leaving eggs, brood & honey behind.

[Chris Luck]

Shame really.

Chris

 

[alanf]

There are eggs, brood, sealed brood on several frames (in textbook laying pattern) and some honey. All the frames are in good order. There are no signs of disease and no corpses in or around the hive...

Time to call the bee inspector?

Yes, call the inspector. If nothing else, they should be alerted if it happens elsewhere too. However, their diagnostics usually need a few bodies to test for diseases or chemicals. If they died something removed the last corpses, but left the brood and honey. What would do that? It's the completely missing bees that is puzzling, I can't even think of a bird or animal attack that would just take all the adult bees from only one hive.

All I can think is that someone, with some skill, stole the bees but didn't want anything that would be traceable if they were caught. Were there any markings? Hive parts are hard to explain but bees alone can always be claimed to have been 'a swarm'.

 

[Finman]

.
Where do go white dead brood which bees carry out?

I suppose that some bird or hedge hog notice good meal and it comes pick up every day them off.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Varroa and viral load could be relevant. As Chris says, have you a photo?

You mentioned robbers though.
Maybe relevant, maybe not, but one mini-nuc of mine was robbed by bees until there was no food. This was just a few days ago. I found the clipped queen and a cluster of lethargic and hungry bees a couple of yards away in a pile on the grass towards evening - I nearly stood on them. Inside the hive were frames of brood but not a bee. It was devoid of bees. Not a sausage. None. Nothing. Empty. Apis Negative. Moins bee. (You get the message).

 

[AMAE]

Almost exactly the same happened to me. A healthy hive, just administered their first dose of Apiguard. I saw them all hanging out front the next morning and thought they were not unreasonably feeling hard done by as it was a warm sunny morning.....next thing they are gone...leaving brood in situ...

 

[Outlander]

Two of my hives are staging a protest by massing around the front of the hive. One other which is normally very busy with coming and goings has more hanging about outside than usual but not as many as the other two. It’s the same with the nuc so they are clearly not liking the treatment. I have tried to start winter feeding off with one of them but they are not taking it but hoping they will soon as there is Fumidil b in the syrup.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I have tried to start winter feeding off with one of them but they are not taking it but hoping they will soon as there is Fumidil b in the syrup.

Some bees will refuse to take syrup containing fumidil,more so if it happens to be over strength or they have nosema. If they have a heavy nosema then they won't even take straight syrup.

 

[user 6228]

Almost exactly the same happened to me. A healthy hive, just administered their first dose of Apiguard. I saw them all hanging out front the next morning and thought they were not unreasonably feeling hard done by as it was a warm sunny morning.....next thing they are gone...leaving brood in situ...

if the bees are convinced they are poisioned by Apiguard then they will act as if poisioned and take "The long walk"

 

[mbc]

if the bees are convinced they are poisioned by Apiguard then they will act as if poisioned and take "The long walk"

or they absconded due to the smell

 

[mbc]

50g packs of apiguard were designed for dadant hives, considerably larger than a national box. I know someone who was sent 25g sachets by vita free of charge when he complained his bees absconded when he'd used apiguard, no compo for the lost bees though

 

[Outlander]

Some bees will refuse to take syrup containing fumidil,more so if it happens to be over strength or they have nosema. If they have a heavy nosema then they won't even take straight syrup.

They had been taking 1:1 not so long ago but appeared to go off once the Apigaurd went on. I have not offered any to the other colonies because of this so will try feeding them and see what happens. I was going to try your recipe but was offered the fumidil. I read an old post of yours and in it you said that you had a pdf of a study comparing the thymol mix and fumidil, any chance of a copy of that.

 

[jackbee]

They go to the same place as the queen goes to, whenever I try and find her...

ah, that'll be with my car keys and odd socks then!!

 

[jackbee]

Apiguard/apilife var application seems a risky time.

I know bad news gets reported more than good and not saying this cos mine are OK, but my 2 are still there, only a few days to go on apiguard.

But the smaller colony Q seems to have gone off lay so hoping she wakes up once it comes off

 

[drstitson]

loss of all bees was how a lot of the hive losses presented in europe in run up to winter last year.

put down to varroa+nosema.

 

[Chris Luck]

loss of all bees was how a lot of the hive losses presented in europe in run up to winter last year.

Can I ask just what "Europe" means in this context? Europe is a very, very large area with all manner of climates and topographic features and it certainly wasn't the case here.

Chris

 

[Poly Hive]

Before this gets all defensive about the definition of what is Europe and what is merely not, is it possible that wasps are the issue?

PH

 

[Into the lions den]

lol PH, you got in first.

Wasps are omnivores, and the total lack of bees, yet the honey still unfinished, is fairly typical of wasp predation on a smallish colony. Is especially relevant in the light of the mention of gentleness early in the thread. Some colonies are so gentle that they can lose some of their ability to defend themselves. Wasps eat bees, and if the bees were the main target here then perhaps no surprise there was honey left. Give it a day or two more and that would be gone too.

 

[Margaret Elisabeth]

Is the queen still there? if not how old are the other queens? If the bees have been attacked by wasps or hornets they may have eaten the lot. An alternative might be bee rustling but it seems an odd time of year. If the queen was left behind but may have died it is possible that the flying bees were poisened but then there should have been some nurse bees. A veritable Marie Celeste.