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Author Topic: I opened my Dead Hive - surprise  (Read 1597 times)

Offline beemaster

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I opened my Dead Hive - surprise
« on: March 12, 2007, 07:11:20 pm »
THIS AFTERNOON I OPENED MY HIVE THAT 2 WEEKS AGO HAD A SIZABLE CLEANSING FLIGHT. NOW.... a week later it was empty, the amount of honey aboard had even surprised me. I had 9 fulll untouched capped full honey frames, and 3 of the 3/4 full. The others had been used up and there were no dead bees facing in or out of cells.

I scraped a about 70-80 bees from the entrance a few days ago, but found no more than 20 other dead bees in the hive. We had a very warm MONTH of January, daily flights of the bees was not uncommon - February was harsh and explained what honey was used up, but with great stores (at least 80 to 90 pound or more) there was no reason for this hive to leave and they surely didn't die in a conventional way I've experienced before.

I saw no varroa when I banged out empty cells or on the bottom board, nothing looked abnormal minus the honey filled hive void of bees. I swear, the mother-ship is beaming down pheromones and all the bees are flying up to the ship to pollinate some other planet somewhere deep in the galaxy where they need bees too.

I say the latter tongue and cheek, but I'm afraid that more and more posts in the forum will find there way to CCD and not in GENERAL FORUM. Please leave this one here Mods - thanks :)

I could seal it up good now, wait on bees either through swarm, pachkage or nuc - or harvest. I hate to do the latter, cleaning out all the stores, maybe just half and give the next colony a nice start.

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Offline Kev

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Re: I opened my Dead Hive - surprise
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2007, 08:20:37 pm »
That's bad news.

kev
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Offline Cindi

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Re: I opened my Dead Hive - surprise
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2007, 01:37:46 am »
John, no to harvest.  If you got a package or two (or even better a nuc), you would have a great start for them with the food and comb.   I would well imagine you enjoy that bee side of life.

This is the weirdest thing with bees these days, isn't it?  I wonder if they were all foraging and suddenly the weather got cold while they were out and they got too cold to fly home.  There are strange things done in the midnight sun.

Good luck John.  Best of the day.  Cindi
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Offline BEE C

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Re: I opened my Dead Hive - surprise
« Reply #3 on: March 13, 2007, 05:31:52 am »
Thats scary stuff...disappearing bees.  I'm with you on the mothership theory...don't they call that rapture? John are you near any farming areas? Reading more on CCD, the pesticide link worries me.  I am lucky to be stuck in the sticks with forested areas all around.  I was reading some link about CCD where a researcher was advocating for farmers to use less pesticide and allow fallow land to build up other bee species.  She said it was a way for farmers to ensure pollination.  Hmmm seems if farmers did this before there would be less problems with our honeybees.  Reminded me of a professor I had once that touted the benefits of global warming.  The prof said we should flood the rocky mountain trench to sell water to California...and oh the grapes we could grow with warmer temps she said...did I mention the course was called 'human impact on the environment'? I think most of us in the class were a bit taken aback, we didn't sign up for 'the benefits of screwing up the environment'...
I spent last season working with my beekeeping instructor pollinating crops throughout the fraser valley.  I was appalled at the state of industrial farming.  The runoff was gross, and these were NEW farms.  Im not expert, but I thought it interesting that there is a problem with a toxic bacteria in farm ditches in the areas we worked.  I can't remember the name of the toxic sludge, but the stuff is starting to move into populated areas now and causing the environment ministry to put out warnings like "avoid contact with the sludge, the ministry is investigating, nothing to see here people..."  Some homes in the area across the Fraser river from me  were starting to be colonized and there was a buzz about it.  Very bad health concerns.  But I digress....
Sorry to hear about your hive John.  I know its like losing friends.  Such benefital little ones, doing such good things for our shared environment.  Hopefully this 'trend' will have a scientific solution soon.  Interesting info out there about the nicotine based pesticides...too many pesticides are out there for farmers and homeowners alike.  Poor bees.
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