what happened

[theBeeLord]

hive seemed fine about a month ago.  went in today - all dead.  cluster of bees looked like they had mold on them. they seemed wet.  did they get wet, freeze and die?
  and then there's these larvae.  anyone know what they are?  there was plenty of honey left over.

[iddee]

If you have a state inspector, I would call him. It looks like you may have efb or afb.along with SHB.

[BeeMaster2]

While you are waiting on the inspector, Seal up that hive.You do not want your bees robbing it. That will spread the AFB if that is what it is. Stick a tooth pic in one of those sunken brood cells twirl it around then slowly pull it out. If it has a sticky string of material attached to it it is probably AFB.
Is there a pile of bees in the bottom of the hive or do you have bees that just hatched out and could not survive because there were no bees to feed them. There is a good chance that the bees absconded and the remaining brood was chilled and a few hatched. (CCD)
Then the SHB take over and slime the hive. Do not allow the SHB larvae get out of the hive. There are thousands of them getting ready to crawl out and get into the soil to pupate.
When this happens to my hives, I put the frames in a large trash can and fill it with water  and a little soap and try to drown them. You have to weigh the frames down to get them under water. Afterwords use the hose to flush out the larvae and dead brood.

If it is AFB, you just want to burn the whole hive.
Jim

[theBeeLord]

thanks.
just heard from the state apiarist.  no AFB or EFB.  just SHB.

[KPF]

This article is interesting because it provides tips on how to detect varroa and treatment timing. The main point the article makes is that it's not always easy to spot varroa (esp for newbies)  but she gives some tips on forensics of absconded hives. I found the crystal varroa pee thing interesting.


https://beeinformed.org/2016/03/08/why-did-my-honey-bees-die/

[tjc1]

This article is interesting because it provides tips on how to detect varroa and treatment timing. The main point the article makes is that it's not always easy to spot varroa (esp for newbies)  but she gives some tips on forensics of absconded hives. I found the crystal varroa pee thing interesting.


https://beeinformed.org/2016/03/08/why-did-my-honey-bees-die/

Wow - there it is - bingo - this describes my experiences this year to a 'T'... unfortunately! At least I'm prepared for the coming year with this insight.