Worlds worst bee keeper

[MuswellMetro]

I am the worlds worst bee keeper!

I gave them food, a bit of insulation in the roof, but bviosly that wasn't enough, I've obviously made some stupid rookie mistake and killed them all!

I have no idea why they've died, unless it's some disease! There's honey in the supers still, so they had their own food too! !

lets see, if we can find out why they died

1)did you find the dead queen
2) were the bees still in cluster
3) any bees with heads in cells
4) supers was the Qex on
5) excluding the supers, where was the bees position to stores in the brood
6)feeding how did you feed them
7) what varroa treatmnet did they have and when

 

[oliver90owner]

ferretgirl,

Unless you know the cause for the failure of the colony it is probably best to have a clean, sterilised start and not feed back any of that honey to the new bees.

No bee diseases are known to affect us humans so if there is a frame, or super, of honey it could be extracted for consumption. That said it might be 'sugar' honey rather than proper honey.

Regards, RAB

 

[oliver90owner]

warts,

Very prolific and hard working bees you have.

A nuc in early May last year and yet collected 4 3/4 supers of OSR honey. That would be perhaps around 40kgs from that one nuc in how long before the rape was finished?

Pretty good going for a nuc.

RAB

 

[Bcrazy]

Beekeepers must never blame themselves if disease is the cause of a colony's demise (except for Varroa related ) as we have no way of controlling our bees in where they decide to go foraging. It is thought that the spores of Nosema are collected from plants that infected bees have visited and our bees will pick up spores on their feet or legs when foraging on these plants. On another thought look at where they drink from, its got to bee the dirtiest looking puddle you can find. Try it out for yourself. As soon as we water plants then the bees are there drinking away from the soil. So when a colony dies of starvation please look to see where the cluster is in relation to the stores, what I mean is some cluster on the near or rear of the frames and are too cold to move to where the stores are. Who's fault is that? Does that make sense?

Regards;

 

[oliver90owner]

must never blame themselves

In the context of this thread, yes. But not always. This is why we try to be as aseptic as practicable between colonies and particularly between apiaries.

Not checking, and passing infections to another colony may not be the newly infected colony bek fault but it is to be blamed on a beekeeper!

Regards, RAB

 

[match]

lets see, if we can find out why they died

1)did you find the dead queen
2) were the bees still in cluster
3) any bees with heads in cells
4) supers was the Qex on
5) excluding the supers, where was the bees position to stores in the brood
6)feeding how did you feed them
7) what varroa treatmnet did they have and when

The most important thing is to not blame yourself, and instead take this as an opportunity to learn more about beekeeping.

I'd add a couple more things to look for:

When you take the frames out, look for uncapped honey in frames - is it liquid? 'Wet' stores can be a strain on bees.

Are there any signs of dysentery? (brown streaks across the frames)

Are there any signs of damp in the hive? (mould on the frames, wetness etc

I lost a colony this winter - the colony had been small and weak, and had superseded late. Their stores were quite wet (they'd not been strong enough to dry it all out) and they got dysentery as a result. Not a good experience to have, but it gave me a clear idea what had killed them. Now I know for future years that a colony of that size/strength won't do well, so I'll aim to merge small colonies next year with healthier ones.

As everyone has already said, don't give up!

 

[ferretgirl]

lets see, if we can find out why they died

1)did you find the dead queen
2) were the bees still in cluster
3) any bees with heads in cells
4) supers was the Qex on
5) excluding the supers, where was the bees position to stores in the brood
6)feeding how did you feed them
7) what varroa treatmnet did they have and when

Been today to completely empty the hive!
In answer to your questions:
1) no, didn't find the dead queen, but did find where all the bees had got to.....they were all at the bottom on the floor
2) most bees were together, but quite a few spaced out all around the hive
3) yeah, quite a few bees with just their bums sticking out
4) queen excluder was definately off.......I checked that last year
5) the main lot of bees were at one end of the hive.........the stores that were left were sort of in the middle/towards the other end
6) fed them with fondant made from recipe on here........but I know I did make 1 major mistake with that........I was feeding it through a syrup feeder (I didn't realise, thought that was right!), I was corrected by the local beekeepers at the beginning of the year and took it out and just dropped it straight on top of crown board........do you think that's what killed them?
7) the guy I got them off said he'd done the varroa treatment and that would be sufficient for the winter

There was a little bit of mould too........not sure if that's grown since they've all died or not though.

The frames on the side where the majority of the bees were are quite dark, all the drawn comb is dark........can't remember from the course I did if that's normal, I'm presuming not!!!!

I'm throwing all the frames out and buying new. Am I right in thinking I just need to get a blowtorch to scortch the inside of the hive in order to use it again??

 

[MuswellMetro]

There was a little bit of mould too........not sure if that's grown since they've all died or not though.

The frames on the side where the majority of the bees were are quite dark, all the drawn comb is dark........can't remember from the course I did if that's normal, I'm presuming not!!!!

I'm throwing all the frames out and buying new. Am I right in thinking I just need to get a blowtorch to scortch the inside of the hive in order to use it again??

the mold could be after they have died and it is not uncommon that comb is dark, i expect is about three years old at least

torch it yes, and just to be safe burn the frames, you could steralise but for the cost of a £15 i prefer to replace

Bees, looks like classic starvation having got them self stranded from the honey store they should have had enough food until january so although mispalced fondant would not have helped but if it had coreectly place then they may still have not had enough food. the usued food could be ivy honey that they find diifcult to eat. ,check if it is crystalised solid or runny

 

[ferretgirl]

Some of the honey is runny, but most is crystalised, why is that??

There was also a bit of uncapped honey that was still very runny like water.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Some of the honey is runny, but most is crystalised, why is that??

There was also a bit of uncapped honey that was still very runny like water.

runny honey could be fermrented non capped honey from october ..it is poisonous to bees

ivy honey or Oil seed Rape, it set like rock and the bees have diffuclt feeding on it without lots of water, so no good when they are in cluster

the lat autumn mentt they collected a lot of ivy last year,

oil seed rape honey is similar but june/july

could be the reason they starved, 1) brood was full off osr from the time the nuc was started or 2) the ate all the good stuff in october/Nov ( late autumn flying) and fill it up with solid ivy

eitherway not your fault

 

[hairbear]

Hi Ferret Girl
Thanks for putting up the post, I am starting with bees this year and at the momment sit at the side of the forum and read.
I have learnt alot from this thread
dont give up and let us know how you get on
best of luck

 

[Tom Bick]

Hi hairbear
Welcome to the forum and dont sit on the sidelines to long ask any question you may have it is surprising how they can help even the more experienced beekeeper and also the new beekeeper as you have being with ferret girl
Good look with the year ahead

 

[rae]

Early on you asked about getting nucs from a few suppliers - we got ours from Easy Bee (Mike the Bee) and although he is a bit of a grumpy bloke, his nucs were good - in fact they're both "too big" now and we need to split them (see the "Feeding Question" thread..!).

We got our nucs in June and this was pretty much ideal. A nuc is not fearsome, it is easy to inspect and see real progress. Trying to begin on a full colony would be quite an experience, and I'd re-iterate what everyone else is saying - by October, it is all pretty much over, the bees should be treated, fed, and pretty much ready for winter.