Stinking mess in my hive

[gottabee]

Hey guys hope your beekeeping year is doing great.

I have a problem I have not seen before. Basically: many dead bees, maggots, some SHB, and a few dead wax moths on the hive floor. It really stinks - a rotting smell, frames have maggots and dead larva. Bees are lethargic but the queen is alive.

I did the (AFB) rubber band/toothpick test on the brood but they did not string out or snap back. They were soggy (mushy).

This year is very wet and I have been recovering from severe storm damage so I haven't checked them in about 5 weeks. I am hoping just a bad case of SHB.

What do you think? Your insight and thoughts much appreciated.

[Michael Bush]

I would scrape it all down and reuse it.  Sounds like the bees are a loss.  Shake them out and let them move in wherever they like or compress them down to the number of frames they can cover in a box made to take close to that number of frames.  Like a two frame nuc or a five frame nuc etc.

[iddee]

Sounds like SHB problem. Do like Micheal says, but remove any frames that smell like SHB. They will abscond from that smell.