Hives

[rawlingst98]

I have several hives around my area. I live in west Texas about fifty miles west of Abilene. All the hives that i look at around me seem to be struggling and they all have diseases like hive worms and the comb is a dark sickly color. Im getting like three hives from Wichita Falls this week and im worried that they could be in trouble of getting the same diseases and parasites as the others. Does anyone know how i can prevent that from happening? 

[D Coates]

Welcome to Beemaster!  As for how to stop diseases and parasites, you've got to know what they are to know how to stop them.  There's no such thing as "hive worms" so I can't tell you how to avoid them.  Start out by reading a good beekeeping book like Backyard Beekeeper from Kim Flottum to get a good understanding of what's what and what diseases look like and how to deal with them.  There are also beekeeping techniques (or lack thereof) that can cause hives to exhibit the conditions you're concerned about too.

[Michael Bush]

>All the hives that i look at around me seem to be struggling and they all have diseases like hive worms and the comb is a dark sickly color.

I would guess wax moths?  All old comb is dark.  That is the color of brood comb.  Healthy brood comb.  Used brood comb.

> Im getting like three hives from Wichita Falls this week and im worried that they could be in trouble of getting the same diseases and parasites as the others.

Once a year 2/3 of all the hives in North America end up in the same valley in California.  A month later they all go back to the four corners of the continent where they came from.  Those "diseases and parasites" are endemic to North America.  If you have bees you will have those around.  There is no where to hide.

>Does anyone know how i can prevent that from happening?

You can't.