What the what?

[brit.thebee]

I'm so sad.  I'm crying.   It's pitiful.  I've got mascara running down my face. 
 
Why would they leave right now?  No comprende?  What do you think?  Pretty mild temps this summer in Texas.  Tons of rain.  The girls seemed to work as hard as the weather allowed and they were busy busy the last time I checked on them.  I've mentioned before that I'm a touring musician and this last trip was about 2 and 1/2 weeks long...North Carolina was beautiful.  I checked everything out before I left and it all seemed perfectly normal.  But at some point in the last two weeks one of my hives packed up and took off.  I'm a little devastated.   What did I do?

[gunny]

Its not what you did, they are the ones that left.  Could be a number of reasons.  Wax moths come to mind and are the reason I lost a couple of hives.  Sometime things like that just happen, don't blame yourself, if they knew how bad this makes you feel, I'm sure they'd be back faster than they left.

[brit.thebee]

Thanks.  Didn't see any wax moth evidence.  Just nothing.  And I'm worried about them through the fall and winter.  They would've had it pretty good.

[doak]

Absconding is not at all unusual. Just clean up and store the equipment in the normal way.
If there was honey left and it was robbed out that may be better, as it is a sign it wasn't CCD.
JMO doak

[Kirk-o]

Bee are like people sometimes they don't like the arrangement.Sometimes you can do it all by the BOOK and they do what they want any way.
kirko

[Brian D. Bray]

A dearth of nectar has been fairly common this year.  Lots of flowers but no juice.  Bees will often abscond during a dearth in order to find an area more fruitful of forage.  I had a swarm that was obviously an obsconding hive--they were very cranky and very large-- that didn't stay in the hive I put them in.  All I had was 2 medium 5 frame nuc boxes available at the time and they bees didn't like the area as I was experiencing a dearth also. They stayed 2 days and absconded again, even though I was feeding them.  The determiner was lack of forage despite the feeding.

[Cindi]

Brit.theBee.  That is a sad thing and I feel how you are feeling.  Sorry to hear of this thing.  Don't give up though, keep on keepin' bees.  You are still doing a good job, like Gunny said, it is not your fault, it is the bees that left.  Get more bees next year and try again.  Maybe you will have something good come of this, like comb ready for the next season that will surely come, the same as tomorrow will come.  Have a wonderful day, have a great life, enjoy your road trips, that is cool.  Cindi

[brit.thebee]

Thanks everybody.  It is a sad thing, but it only makes me want to learn more and try harder and keep on beekeepin on.

[Cindi]

Brit. theBee.  Go, girl, go, learn all you can, your bees will thank you!!!   :) ;)  Have a wonderful day, beautiful life we're livin'.  Cindi