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Offline Mouse

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bees gone....
« on: February 27, 2013, 10:18:55 pm »
I went out today since the temps were up close to 50, to have a peek at my hive. I last inspected in October, and they seemed good, they had re-queened in august, but seemed to be doing ok, had brood, etc etc etc. Now, all the bees are gone. There's maybe 50-100 dead bees on the bottom of the hive, nothing like the number that should have been in the cluster if they stayed steady to the numbers that I saw in october. No dead bees head down in the cells like it was just too cold to get to the stored hone... just empty... there's not a lot of stores left, but there are some. a frame and a half of capped honey? and all the brood is the top third honey or there abouts.

This has been my first year beekeeping, and so far, I'm getting very discouraged... I had one package die due to user error with feeding methods, one die because the queen just never laid, and I didn't have a second hive to put brood in from, got a swarm from a local beekeeper, and was going good, now this. I'm not quite ready to give up yet, but I do want to know if I could have somehow prevented this?

Offline capt44

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2013, 10:52:36 am »
Sounds like a robbing situation.
I lost a hive before I realized what was happening.
My other hives I reduced the entrance to 1 inch and started using a baggie feeding system in the top.
If a hive is the least bit weak a stronger hive (feral too) will rob the weaker hive.
But with the reduced entrance the guard bees can defend the hive.
Richard Vardaman (capt44)

Offline Mouse

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #2 on: February 28, 2013, 04:34:59 pm »
that could have been a contributing factor, definitely something to keep an eye on in future. I brought the whole shebang inside today to do a thorough inspection (I had to pry some frames apart, they sure are busy with that propolis) and did finally find bees head down in honey cells, and a very small cluster around the queen, all dead. Also found some varroa feces in the brood chamber. So, my best educated guess is that the hive was suffering from mite infestation, and just too small after the late requeening, didn't get enough stores laid by, and then died of starvation and/or cold. some of the brood cells are still full of liquidy goop, which I'm assuming is what's left of some brood after being frozen and thawed a few times. but mostly all empty. discouraging in general, and expensive to start over, but I have learned a LOT this year, and I have a whole bunch of drawn comb and some honey to jump start my packages in april. It still doesn't seem like enough dead bees in the hive by half for what was there last time I inspected, but who knows. 

Offline Intheswamp

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #3 on: February 28, 2013, 05:23:53 pm »
Did you stick a matchstick into a couple of the gooey cells for a rope test?  Probably not an issue but...

Ed
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American blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world.  320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror".  Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA.  But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

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Offline jpmeir

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2013, 06:59:33 pm »
Intheswamp, can you explain how the matchstick test works? Im new and don't know...

Offline Kathyp

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2013, 07:10:44 pm »
not that this has anything to do with the loss of your hive, but i'd hesitate to requeen that late unless you had to for some reason.  if you get a bad queen, or they don't like her, it's pretty late to catch the problem and do something about it.

how were the stores.  how much room did they have going into winter.  how strong was the hive?
Someone really ought to tell them that the world of Ayn Rand?s novel was not meant to be aspirational.

Offline Mouse

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2013, 07:27:28 pm »
I should clarify, I didn't requeen on purpose! The old queen must have died, or become non productive, because between one inspection and the next, because she was gone, and they were making queen cells, and MAN was that hive mean all the sudden! I went all summer without a sting and got stung TWICE that time around. sheesh.

good thought on the matchstick test though, I was wondering whether I should do that... I'll drag out some more frames tomorrow....

Offline Intheswamp

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2013, 07:32:09 pm »
Intheswamp, can you explain how the matchstick test works? Im new and don't know...
I'm pretty much a newbee, too, but from what I understand the larvae that die from American Foul Brood basically turn into a dark gooey mess in the cell...later when they dry up in the cell they leave a "scale" in the cell.  In the rope test you simply insert a stick into the goo, twist a bit to coat the tip of the stick and then withdraw it from the cell.  If a gooey rope forms between the stick and goo inside the cell then AFB is assumed.  Here are two links that describe AFB and the rope test...scroll about 1/2 way down the page in each article.

http://www.centralohiobeekeepers.org/cobaprojects/beeyard/yr2010/september06.htm

http://www.masterbeekeeper.org/B_files/disease1.htm

Hang in there, it'll get better.  I'm in the learning phase, too, and have lost a few colonies already.  :-\

Ed
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American blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world.  320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror".  Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA.  But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

"Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they wont come to yours." - Yogi Berra

Offline AllenF

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #8 on: February 28, 2013, 10:03:28 pm »
Finding dead hives this time of the year normally are caused by low bee numbers letting them freeze/starve or lack of food starving them.   I find most are from just low numbers.   They may be the result of queen issues, mites, disease, and aliens.  I just throw in the alien answer because it just makes sense to blame the aliens.   

Offline Kathyp

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #9 on: February 28, 2013, 10:25:32 pm »
i go with the alien thing lots of times.  sometimes there's no other explanation....for lots of stuff!   :evil:

wondered if you had verified that you had a good queen laying well before winter?  you said there was brood, but was there enough to create enough bees to make it through winter.  assuming they were queenless for a little bit while they made one and she got mated, did they get to far behind in numbers to catch up for winter?
Someone really ought to tell them that the world of Ayn Rand?s novel was not meant to be aspirational.

Offline Intheswamp

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #10 on: March 01, 2013, 11:26:23 am »
I'm curious about how you set them up to be overwintered.  Did you wrap the hive?  Insulate the top?  Close off the screened bottom board if you use one?  Living down here in the south we don't wrap hives or anything extreme....basically just make sure they have plenty to eat.  Your climate is far different from mine though, but I would think there's beeks that don't wrap or anything...but lots do. 

In your final inspection before putting them to bed for the winter, were there a lot of bees? 

Do you experienced beeks think doing something like Mountain Camp feeding might be a thought for next winter for Mouse?

As has already been mentioned, it seemed that your cluster was just too small to survive the cold and these were just some thoughts and thought provokers...

Best wishes,
Ed
www.beeweather.com 
American blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world.  320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror".  Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA.  But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

"Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they wont come to yours." - Yogi Berra

Offline jpmeir

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #11 on: March 02, 2013, 07:35:43 am »
Thanks for the info Intheswamp.

Offline Mouse

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #12 on: March 02, 2013, 05:38:21 pm »
I designed my setup with an airspace in the outer "cover" as winter insulation, and partially close off my screen bottom board for winter with a board with a few holes drilled to provide airflow (I have top entrances for varmint protection). as I understand from local beeks the real worry in a healthy hive is condensation not sheer cold (as long as the hives are reasonably well sheltered that is). I was encouraged that I found no signs of condensation on the inside of the hive, so that's a +1 for my setup!

as far as the queen, I never actually SAW her (I still have trouble finding unmarked queens) but there were hatched queen cells, new capped brood, and the hive settled back down again and stopped stinging me when I inspected! So I assumed that she was there, mated, and laying well. I also found her dead in the center of the small cluster of dead bees (very sad I was too  :'( )

Because I didn't have a second hive to compare with, I'm not sure if there were as many bees as there should have been going into winter. It seemed like a lot to me, but what do I know, this is my first year beekeeping! Looking back, I think that they would have needed more stores going into winter regardless, they still had three of 20 frames unfilled, so, 10 frames of brood, with some honey, and seven frames of honey. the dead hive has a frame and a half of honey left, plus most of the honey stored around the brood.

It didn't help that I had a new baby and didn't get the final fall inspections in that I wanted to either. It probalby wasn't my best decision to start beekeeping in the same summer that I was having a new baby, but I didn't want to wait a whole year either!  :-P Live and learn??

Offline T Beek

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #13 on: March 02, 2013, 08:01:05 pm »
Mouse;  You didn't really say "how" your hive re-queened.   Did 'you' add a "mated" queen in August or did they swarm and create their own?  You saw "how many" queen cells?  If they swarmed in August and a queen made it back and started laying eggs you wouldn't see any until September with little forage available to naturally provide nourishment.

I suspect this colony just swarmed itself out and didn't have time to recoup in strength before winter and/or simply went queenless at some point because there were not enough bees to take care of the business of heating the colony.

SPRING creates more hazards for honeybees than any other time of year IMO, especially for new beeks.

Unless there was significant damage to the comb (it looks like the caps are just ripped off with lots of wax debris on bottom with the dead) I also doubt it was a robbing situation, especially if it was "appearing" strong in October.  

Robbing would have presented you with lots of dead both inside AND outside.

It also sounds like you may be providing too much ventilation, especially over winter.  I'd recommend closing that SBB and placing insulation above your inner covers at a minimum.  Air space is more effective "below" your hive than above it.

3 of 20 frames "unfilled" is too much empty space IMO.  Each late Fall a Beek must squeeze their colonies down in size by removing "all" empty boxes and frames to fit just bees, honey and pollen.

Don't despair when you kill bees.  WE ALL KILL BEES.  Good and bad beeks alike.  They are wild insects and we are forcing our ways onto them.
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Offline Mouse

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #14 on: March 02, 2013, 10:42:32 pm »
as per re-queening, I'm almost 100% sure that they just went queenless, and built their own queen. Now, I can't always find the queen even when she's in there, but that hive was NOT acting normal, and building queen cells. I've counted.... mmmm.... five queen cells? I forget exactly. All empty. I did find the dead queen in the middle of the very small dead cluster. <sigh>. so they had a queen going into winter, but my guess is just didn't have enough time to build the hive back up, esp. coming right at the end of the season like that.

no damage to the comb, all seems a-ok there. I took everything out today and cut out the ex. crooked comb, scraped the propolis, etc. Put the divider back in, and I'm ready to start over when my packages come in april. There does seem to be some consensus that the Italian Queens do not do as well in the frozen tundra of New England since they don't stop laying early enough? I'm considering ordering a mated queen from somewhere local if I can, and re-queening, but, that makes the whole project even more expensive.

you would close the SBB completely even with a top entrance? I was concerned that if I closed it completely there wouldn't be enough airflow to prevent condensation. It's easy enough to put a piece of foam insulation inside my roof for next year, I think I even have one laying around somewhere...

I'm still confused about how relatively few bees were dead in the hive.

Offline T Beek

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #15 on: March 02, 2013, 10:53:41 pm »
Five empty queen cells can mean up to 5 swarms cast from your once thriving colony.  The one found was likely the sole survivor and one of the five.  Colonies that cast late season swarms are usually doomed unless the beek knows it happened and can take some corrective action.

Since approximately half the bees leave w/ each swarm, plus they also take a lot of honey, effectively dooming a remaining colony in too big of a space to properly keep a small cluster warm and with minimal stores to make it through 5-7 months of no available forage....guess that says it all.   :(

Better luck in 2013!  No better teacher than hands on experience.
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Offline greenbtree

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #16 on: March 03, 2013, 03:16:19 am »
The learning curve at first is STEEP!  Hang in there, it will get better.  If you can afford it, start up again with two hives.  It is helpful to be able to compare them when you are learning, and if something goes wrong you can grab a frame of eggs from the other hive.  If you can find a mentor, it would be great, especially if you can follow them around on their inspections to see what healthy normal hives look like at various times of the year.  I didn't have that option, and I know exactly what you mean when you talk about not knowing what is normal.  It can be almost crippling.  But I got through it, so can you, just keep plugging away.

JC
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Offline Stromnessbees

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #17 on: March 03, 2013, 05:05:59 am »
Hi Mouse

Please have a look at this:

Quote
CCD, Colony Collapse Disorder

Signs and symptoms

A colony which has collapsed from CCD is generally characterized by all of these conditions occurring simultaneously:[31]

    Presence of capped brood in abandoned colonies. Bees normally will not abandon a hive until the capped brood have all hatched.
    Presence of food stores, both honey and bee pollen:
        i. which are not immediately robbed by other bees
        ii. which when attacked by hive pests such as wax moth and small hive beetle, the attack is noticeably delayed.
    Presence of the queen bee. If the queen is not present, the hive died because it was queenless, which is not considered CCD.

Precursor symptoms that may arise before the final colony collapse are:

    Insufficient workforce to maintain the brood that is present
    Workforce seems to be made up of young adult bees
    The colony members are reluctant to consume provided feed, such as sugar syrup and protein supplement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder

Your description of the tiny cluster with the queen in the middle is the telltale sign of CCD. I have seen it repeatedly myself, there is nothing you could have done to prevent the loss of the hive.

It is caused by your bees collecting contaminated pollen and nectar from plants treated with systemic neonicotinoid pesticides.
Seed treated corps as well as flowers and trees growing along treated lawn in parks and on golf courses provide this contaminated food for your bees during the summer.
It often causes queen failure, leading to supercedure, just as you describe it.
During winter the colony succumbs to the accumulated effects of the poison and all the adult bees leave the hive to die.

Please try to identify the source of the contamination.
If you can't keep your bees away from the treated plants you maybe shouldn't consider getting more bees, as they might well die again next winter, no matter how carefully you look after them.

We need to get these pesticides banned asap, then our bees will be able to thrive again.

 :(
« Last Edit: March 03, 2013, 06:06:05 am by Stromnessbees »

Offline T Beek

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #18 on: March 03, 2013, 05:55:57 am »
Hi Mouse

Please have a look at this:

Quote
CCD, Colony Collapse Disorder

Signs and symptoms

A colony which has collapsed from CCD is generally characterized by all of these conditions occurring simultaneously:[31]

    Presence of capped brood in abandoned colonies. Bees normally will not abandon a hive until the capped brood have all hatched.
    Presence of food stores, both honey and bee pollen:
        i. which are not immediately robbed by other bees
        ii. which when attacked by hive pests such as wax moth and small hive beetle, the attack is noticeably delayed.
    Presence of the queen bee. If the queen is not present, the hive died because it was queenless, which is not considered CCD.

Precursor symptoms that may arise before the final colony collapse are:

    Insufficient workforce to maintain the brood that is present
    Workforce seems to be made up of young adult bees
    The colony members are reluctant to consume provided feed, such as sugar syrup and protein supplement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder

You description of the tiny cluster with the queen in the middle is the telltale sign of CCD. I have seen it repeatedly myself, there is nothing you could have done to prevent the loss of the hive.

It is caused by your bees collecting contaminated pollen and nectar from plants treated with systemic neonicotinoid pesticides.
Seed treated corps as well as flowers and trees growing along treated lawn in parks and on golf courses provide this contaminated food for your bees during the summer.
It often causes queen failure, leading to supercedure, just as you describe it.
During winter the colony succumbs to the accumulated effects of the poison and all the adult bees leave the hive to die.

Please try to identify the source of the contamination.
If you can't keep your bees away from the treated plants you maybe shouldn't consider getting more bees, as they might well die again next winter, no matter how carefully you look after them.

We need to get these pesticides banned asap, then our bees will be able to thrive again.

 :(


While I might agree that pesticides are a problem for Honeybees (and all life) I do not believe by the OP's description that there were "tell tale" signs of any poisoning or even CCD.  The 2 have not been completely linked as far as I know.  In fact, most experts still have not agreed on what CCD even is or what may be causing it, although pesticides are certainly under much suspicion.

Seems Stromnessbess may be on a mission of sorts, the "certainty" is a bit unnerving.  I wonder, where did that description of CCD come from?  We all need something to do I suppose  :-D

What's killing the Honeybee?  WE ARE KILLING HONEYBEES but its not 'all' about pesticides and/or CCD.  Confusion surrounding the subject doesn't really help.  BEEKS and bees need science and more than just a passion for bees.

As for wikipedia....well by their own admission they can't always be trusted.

Mouse;  Yes, close your SBB and create 'dead air space' below it for winter.  You can leave it wide open all summer if you want, there are pro and con arguments for leaving it open or just cracked so you get to choose  ;).  With a top entrance moisture/condensation is allowed to escape outside.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2013, 06:33:49 am by T Beek »
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Offline Stromnessbees

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #19 on: March 03, 2013, 06:14:01 am »
I am sure that Mouse will be able to do his own research into CCD and neonics now, and that he is going to be aware, that a lot of disinformation is spread by the pesticide corporations, which would lose billions if these chemicals were banned.

If he goes round to his beekeeping neighbors he might find that they have similar problems with keeping their bees alive, and that in areas without these pesticides, bees are still thriving.

Never mind all the other pollinators that are disappearing wherever these pesticides are used, as well as the birds, whose food source (aphids, worms, beetles, etc.) have been killed off.   :-x


Offline Finski

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #20 on: March 03, 2013, 06:19:16 am »
I went out today since the temps were up close to 50, to have a peek at my hive. I last inspected in October, and they seemed good, they had re-queened in august, but seemed to be doing ok, had brood, etc etc etc. Now, all the bees are gone. There's maybe 50-100 dead bees on the bottom of the hive, nothing like the number that should have been in the cluster if they stayed steady to the numbers that I saw in october. No dead bees head down in the cells like it was just too cold to get to the stored hone... just empty... there's not a lot of stores left, but there are some. a frame and a half of capped honey? and all the brood is the top third honey or there abouts.



Your description suits exactly to the dead outs by varroa.

It develops so that you have a good hive.

Then it has a brood brake before autumn.
When new queen start to lay, all free mites go onto brood, which ought to be winter bees.

When new bees are dead or badly violated. very few will stay alive. Summer bees will die during autumn.

The result is that there are so few bees in the hive that they cannot keep brood alive and that is why you see some capped brood there. Bees are old and they die on fields.

2 years ago I lost this way 3 huge hives. They all had queen change in fall. When I started to give Oxalic trickling in December, they were totally empty.

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Offline Stromnessbees

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #21 on: March 03, 2013, 06:37:38 am »
Mouse, if your bees have lots of varroa, you can tell by bees with deformed wings showing up.
You can even see the varroa crawling around on the bees, and the pupae in any opened cells would show them clearly.

A hive affected by varroa doesn't suddenly dwindle away to next to nothing, the sudden dwindling is CCD.

Varroa is the favourite scapegoat for the pesticide corporations to blame the massive colony losses on that have been caused by their systemic pesticides in recent years.

Offline T Beek

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #22 on: March 03, 2013, 06:37:59 am »
I am sure that Mouse will be able to do his own research into CCD and neonics now, and that he is going to be aware, that a lot of disinformation is spread by the pesticide corporations, which would lose billions if these chemicals were banned.

If he goes round to his beekeeping neighbors he might find that they have similar problems with keeping their bees alive, and that in areas without these pesticides, bees are still thriving.

Never mind all the other pollinators that are disappearing wherever these pesticides are used, as well as the birds, whose food source (aphids, worms, beetles, etc.) have been killed off.   :-x



I'm not real sure of the points being made here.  :idunno:  

Hey don't get me wrong I'm sure not pushing pesticides, in fact I think they should all be banned (or at least modified to destroy real pests, like politicians  :-D), but simply blaming bad beekeeping practices (intentional or not) on pesticides does not help a Beek to learn or accept their responsibilities in learning.
"Trust those who seek the truth, doubt those who say they've found it."

Offline Mouse

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #23 on: March 03, 2013, 12:54:49 pm »
Even if it WAS CCD, which I'm not convinced (doesn't seem like there was enough capped brood for that) I have still learned a lot of valuable lessons  about better management processes which will help me overwinter next year. We are not near any large commercial fields though (not even within three or four miles that I'm aware of) around here it's mostly too straight up and down for good farmland :p So I'm not sure how much real pesticide spraying there is going on. Mostly we have a lot of native meadows, small gardens, and some fruit trees. plus the tiny local graveyard next to us is literally carpeted with thyme  :) As far as I know, local beeks don't have problems with persistantly losing all of their hives, although my experience of them is quite limited. I can't get away to attend the local club, and the only beeks in my immediate location have been so negative that I've stopped talking to them  :(

as per swarming.... I didn't think first year hives that still had empty frames were prone to it? Bee mentor told me I'd probably have to worry next year but not this. Also, I thought that a queenless hive produced multiple queen cells, then the first queen to to emerge stung all the others to death and took over the hive? Wouldn't that be the simpler explanation?

I definitely DID have at least a small mite problem late in the year, because I found feces in some spots on the brood, it wasn't by any means on all the brood, and I never saw a deformed bee. certainly it was more than likely a contributing factor, and next year I will be putting in drone comb and trapping for mites. Again, I didn't think (as per mentor again) that this was going to be a huge problem my first year out, but it seems that it certainly could have contributed significantly to the downfall of an already weak hive.

also (not that it really matters) mouse is a "she"  ;)

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #24 on: March 03, 2013, 01:00:41 pm »
also (not that it really matters) mouse is a "she"  ;)

FYI, to help avoid such confusion...you can select your gender in your profile and it will display along with your other info.... :)

Offline dfizer

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #25 on: March 03, 2013, 01:45:17 pm »
Ms. Mouse - I certainly understand your plight - I experienced it first hand for two winters then I decided to treat my hives with apiguard for mites when I found evidence of them last fall.  The difference is that the prior 2 winters I lost all three hives with the same looking scenario as you have described - this year I have (as of yesterday) three hives that are thriving and one that was made from a first year nuc split that is cranking along too...  yes at this point I'm pretty happy however that's not the point - my point is that I attribute the success of these hives to two things - First - I started with hybrid bees (Italian/Carniolan) purchased in nucs which I believe gave the colonies a big jump start on getting going, next would be the mite treatment in the fall.  Those two things I believe made the difference. 

One colony that was made from a spring nuc became so strong that I was able to make split and get a hive started at my girlfriends house.  I cant think of anything that was done differently that the things listed and I genuinely belive the bees will all make it through the winter (fingers crossed).

Should you want to take a look at my yard just let me know and when you are over this way (near Saratoga) we can have a look and discuss the beekeeping philosophy.  I have come to realize that there really is as many different ways to bee keep as there are beekeepers.   

Best of luck -

David

Offline T Beek

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #26 on: March 03, 2013, 01:55:56 pm »
Actually first year colonies (packages, NUcs) are as likely to swarm as any other colony provided one determining factor is in play;

The Broodnest is congested.  

A congested broodnest can occur regardless of how many empty boxes are on a hive, especially if empties are just stacked on top.  It won't work.  A beek must practice the art of KYBO in all its various forms to prohibit swarming.  

Notice I said prohibit as its quite impossible to completely 'prevent' a colony determined to swarm.  

Think about how difficult it is to resist the natural cycle of sex for the majority of lifeforms and you're on your way to understanding honeybee swarming behavior.  Our job is to distract them from this "natural" instinct by practicing KYBO (Keeping Your Broodnests Open).
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Offline Stromnessbees

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #27 on: March 03, 2013, 05:54:29 pm »
...
Mostly we have a lot of native meadows, small gardens, and some fruit trees. plus the tiny local graveyard next to us is literally carpeted with thyme ...  


Neonics are often used as drenches on fruit trees, making their nectar and pollen toxic for the pollinators.

Even graveyards might use these systemic chemicals to keep pests at bay, and contaminated lavender might well be the cause for your loss. Often the gardening is contracted out to specialist companies. They will use whatever product has got the longest residual time, needing fewer applications and hence less effort by them.

 :(

« Last Edit: March 03, 2013, 06:35:11 pm by Stromnessbees »

Offline T Beek

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #28 on: March 03, 2013, 06:32:46 pm »
Stromnessbees;  :idunno: I yi, yi, yi, yi  :-D 

You just might be talking to the choir with all this 'one trick pony' blame it all on neonics stuff.  Do you have any advise on how to protect bees and beekeepers from these substances, besides moving our hives to the Poles?  And I don't mean just harping on Beeks on bee forums about the dangers of them  :-D  or even harping on the Manufacturers, they don't care and have told me so, as long as there is money to be made.

Chances are pretty good that most beeks already know plenty about the dangers to their bees from pesticides.  But what most all beeks do want to know is how to assist and protect their bees. 

Just saying.  :)
« Last Edit: March 03, 2013, 06:46:00 pm by T Beek »
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Offline buzzbee

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #29 on: March 03, 2013, 06:44:16 pm »
Or it could have been an error by a first year beekeeper. Don't be discouraged by doom and gloom. Learn from mistakes you may have made and give it another go. With having drawn comb you will be off to a faster buildup  on your next go around.
As T said about the open brood nest,feeding a package is a good thing to a point. If they backfill the broodnest with syrup,there will be no room for eggs.The colony strives to build up to swarm strength as this is the method of expansion of the species. A late swarm very well could have left you with too few bees to raise brood and gather stores. Throw in a varroa laod and things can go badly. Most likely the late swarm was your biggest problem as first year packages usually do not propogate too heavy of a mite load. Year two and three you need to be very diligent.
When fall comes you want to be done with syrup feeding by October. Condense the hives down so there is not any empty space such as a half box of empty frames. When late winter comes and the boxes and the boxes are light you may wish to ue a candyboard,fondant or dry sugar to get them through their first brood cycles until natural nectar and pollen sources such as skunkcabbage,maples and dandelions are available.
 You will have support here at Beemaster whenever you need it!! :)

Offline Kathyp

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #30 on: March 03, 2013, 06:45:09 pm »
before anyone goes off the deep end about CCD...

http://www.beeculture.com/content/ColonyCollapseDisorderPDFs/7%20Colony%20Collapse%20Disorder%20Have%20We%20Seen%20This%20Before%20-%20Robyn%20M.%20Underwood%20and%20Dennis%20vanEngelsdorp.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder

http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572

no one knows the reasons for it, but reports predate most of the things that people insist on getting hysterical about.  all the way back into the 1800's.

Someone really ought to tell them that the world of Ayn Rand?s novel was not meant to be aspirational.

Offline T Beek

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Re: bees gone....
« Reply #31 on: March 03, 2013, 06:48:36 pm »
before anyone goes off the deep end about CCD...

http://www.beeculture.com/content/ColonyCollapseDisorderPDFs/7%20Colony%20Collapse%20Disorder%20Have%20We%20Seen%20This%20Before%20-%20Robyn%20M.%20Underwood%20and%20Dennis%20vanEngelsdorp.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder

http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=15572

no one knows the reasons for it, but reports predate most of the things that people insist on getting hysterical about.  all the way back into the 1800's.


X:X and long before that.
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