I recently (4/21) hived a package that wasn't too stressed as I got it from a local supplier that put it together two days before I picked up.
The queen was out of the cage by 4/28. I put in two brood and honey frames from another hive when I hived the package and am feeding syrup due to chilly damp weather. I am seeing 50-60 dead bees around the hive each day.
Is it just package bees dying off normally or something else? Most of the dead bees look much bigger than the hive's worker bees, but I would think the hive wouldn't have so many drones. Could the hive be killing off the transplanted brood as it emerges?
Any ideas? Thanks.
You gave them transplanted brood? How are you feeding and do you have reducers on? I would be worried about robbing.
I have an entrance reducer on since they were hived; there is only a very small opening.
When I first dumped them I was feeding them from inside the hive by placing the syrup can that came with them on top of the frames with an empty super around it, since the weather was so bad with rain and cold.
Now the weather's better so I have removed that super and the can of syrup and have set up a feeder away from the hive. I have two hives and wanted both hives to have access to the feeder without encouraging robbing.
I haven't seen any robbing frenzy or fighting activity.
With the cool rainy weather, maybe they just have gotten around to removing the dead from the package.