One of my 27 hives has a pile of bees and dying bees BEHIND the hive. My first thought is pesticide poisoning but I dont see any dead bees in front of the hive. Many of them do have their proboscis extended. Some of them roll around and wiggle and fly off. I have not sprayed anything near the hives. None of other hives have the problem. I place my hives on cement blocks and the dead bees are under the hive and at the back...too weird !
Check out reply # 12 on this thread..........
http://www.beekeepingforums.com/threads/6933-Dead-bees-in-front-of-the-hive (http://www.beekeepingforums.com/threads/6933-Dead-bees-in-front-of-the-hive)
Yes, I am considering the virus issue but dead bees BEHIND the hive is just too weird ! I was hoping some of you might have experienced this before. I did consider that it could have been a small swarm that landed there but I just dont think so. Right now I am thinking virus or pesticide effects.
Do they have any stores of food in the hive?
Oh yes, plenty. Good population, good brood pattern. Hive config is 1 deep, and 2 supers.
Normal activity at the front, I have not seen a repeat performance, just noticed this one day last week.