Today it was balmy in Michigan, it got up to 46 degrees! This is my first spring with bee's. I gave a swarm a hive last year. Today I found hundreds of dead bee's all over the top of the snow. Some as far as 75 yards from the hive. Yellow spots all over the snow especially around the hive. I didn't open the hive and am scared that there won't be many bees left for all the dead ones I see outside. Is this normal for so many to fly out and die? Can I safely open the hive tomorrow to check stores? It is supposed to be almost 50 with little wind. Mid march with a week of possible rain in the forcast and nothing blooming here. Should I put sugar on the hive. How many frames of honey should they have at this point? They are in two deeps and were pretty full of stores last fall.
Yellow spots are bee poop. When all is well they hold it until it's warm enough to fly. The dead bees are spring cleaning of the hive and some tthat are old will fly off to die.Sounds normal.
If the hives are extremely light you may have to feed. from now through the middleof April is the best chance of a hive starving in Northern states.
eep an eye on them
Thanks BuzzBee
If it does get above 55 the bees will be out flying. You could make a quick inspection just to see if there is a cluster. If you think they are low in stores, I have in the past poured honey directly on top of the frames to help the bees. I would also have some sugar water out so thy can take some back to the hive.
If the weather is nice as you say, you should definitely check them out.
It sounds like they are living..
Do not move the frames where the cluster is...unless of course they are not living then you can go to hive recovery, save the combs, try to get some honey out if there is any...but save those combs and a frame of honey! it makes it so much easier/faster to get a new package started.
But if they are living then see what they have left for honey, if they don't have any or have very little then feed.If all the honey is in the "corners" then you can move those frames closer to the cluster. I feed sugar water 1/1 in weight. when you start to see the daffodils or anything, budding out of the ground then give them a pollen patty and feed.
When I check early (CT, February) , I usually take the top hive body with the inner cover on, put it aside, (with the bees) and then I clean the bottom hive body, frames too, and the bottom board, get all the dead ones out of there and then put everything back just the way it was.
I think that if there is less threat of disease, then they do better, plus when I go to reverse the hive bodies, a lot of the work is done already.