dead bees

[bill]

well It is raining here this week and yesterday I put a bee escape under my supers and I noticed a lot of dead bees around the entrance. what should this tell me I also looked in my swarm hive and they had the same thing. is it something to do with rain or could it be disease? is it unusual thanx a lot for your patience

[Michael Bush]

There are always dead bees around a hive.  What is "a lot"?  Piles of dead bees is usually pesticides.  A lot of crawling "K" wing bees is usually Tracheal mites.  Most other problems are either brood diseases, which won't be killing the bees, or Varroa mites which usually don't kill them until later but if they were really serious this time of year you'd see young fuzzy bees with shriveled wings.

[Rich V]

Michael:

What are " K" wing bees?

Rich V

[Michael Bush]

K wing is when the front and back wing are seperated from one another so it makes the letter "K".  Normally the front and back wings do not have a gap between them when the bees are on the combs.