I had 3 medium boxes. When I opened the hive, the top box was full of honey and I found a small cluster of dead bees on 2 sides of a frame. The bottom and middle boxes were mostly empty of honey. Most dead bees were on the bottom board. I gathered them up into a plastic bag. There was some moisture in the hive and the bees felt damp.
What type of bottom board and top are you using. It sounds like condensation may be the culprit. A screened bottom board (SBB) with an Imbrie shim (notched opening) under the top will create the ventilation required to reduce condensation within the hive. Condensation can be a real killer.
Shouldn't there be more bees? Did the queen die in the fall?
The bees die off during the winter (see above comment) and are usually removed from the hive by the other bees during periods that are warm enough for cleansing flights and other house keeping chores. Once the cluster shrinks below a soft ball sized cluster the remainder of the bees can die off rapidly, especially if there is a lot of condensation and a lot of empty space (space not comb) that requires them to generate more heat.
Or maybe I did not have adequate ventilation?
I would have to say no, I suggest using a SBB, Imbrie shim, and a slatted rack between the hive body and the SBB. The SBB and Imbrie shim provide the ventilation and the slatted rack provides a thermal barrier that insolates the bees against cold winds.
Or the bulk of the cluster didn't make it up to the honey in the top box? I looked at the bees very carefully. The wings did not appear to be deformed.
The cluster got to small to sustain itself and the weather stayed cold too long for the bees to move far enough to relocated the cluster over the stores or move the stores to where the cluster was.
I am open to any ideas. I will ask the moderator to post my photos.
Very Good photos BTW.
Also, what do I do now with the 20 frames of drawn out combs and the 10 frames of honey
Freeze the frames and/or use them to bolster the stores on your remaining hives. The combs, along with a little lemon grass oil, will make a good swarm lure in the spring or home for a new package.