Dying young bees in front of hive

[Hops Brewster]

It might be helpful to see pictures of the actual dead bees that your colony is dragging out.  Gather several freshly exhumed dead and take pics of them on a sheet of white paper.

[choop26]

It is my first year, but milkweed is common ere and bees apparently love the nectar but not the pollen. It sticks to them according to the professor. They then apparently clean it up in the hive.

[choop26]

Hey hops I will gather more and try that. It looks like the young-killing is declining and the ants have probably carried off the carcass. But I did get a close look and did not see anything apparently wrong. Things looked properly-formed, nothing on their bodies, etc. Maybe they picked up enough of these pollen cells to alarm their nurses...will continue to explore possibilities and will post pic if I find enough on the ground. One problem is only thumbnails can be posted so a detailed group shot may be weak.

[GSF]

don't know, just saying - isn't some members of the milkweed family poisonous?

[choop26]

Apparently it to grazing animals:
https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/logan-ut/poisonous-plant-research/docs/milkweed-asclepias-spp/

But great for bees:
http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=14135

They do, however, reject its pollen.

I wonder if the nursery bees confuse the sticky pollen with a potential pest and are hauling out young ones that have somehow gotten it stuck to them?

[mtnb]

It is my first year, but milkweed is common ere and bees apparently love the nectar but not the pollen. It sticks to them according to the professor. They then apparently clean it up in the hive.

Oh. Gotcha

[tjc1]

This morning I passed some milkweed and stopped to take a look. Saw a few bees making the rounds then noticed that two were frozen in place - dead. I had to tug them off the flowers. Almost dropped them and went on, when I thought I saw a tiny speck of yellow at the end of the stuck foot. Here are some photos: after them is a link to a youtube video that shows a bee getting stuck in a milkweed flower.







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0-4FrV8DAo

[Hops Brewster]

interesting.  so maybe they're wearing themselves out trying to free themselves from the milkweed pollenia

[BeeMaster2]

interesting.  so maybe they're wearing themselves out trying to free themselves from the milkweed pollenia

Ditto.

[choop26]

I had hoped the problem was declining but noticed they continue to haul out young bees approx. 1-2 per minute. Gonna post some photos of dead ones later today but they look normal. Nothing remarkable about wings and bodies and nothing on them that I can see.

[choop26]

The numbers of dead bees is increasing significantly and I noticed more adults among the dead. No mites from sugar shake or sticky board, no evidence on bees that I can see. Pics coming in a few moments. Please help if you can it is baffling and heartbreaking for this beginner.

[choop26]

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Here are a couple pics of the dead one more coming...

[choop26]

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[tjc1]

choop - plug in your location/part of the country/world as it can sometimes be helpful to know.

[choop26]

Done...so any thoughts on the issue at hand?

[tjc1]

Anyone else thinking pesticide at this point? Or maybe a weed-killer on the milkweed?

[bwallace23350]

If I thought it was the milkweed I can promise you that I would be cutting it down about now.

[choop26]

Fortunately I don't think its the milkweed. It is native and abundant here as well as the only plant that sustains the monarch butterfly. From what I have read the bees are willing to endure the sticky pollinia for one of their favorite nectar sources. In other words, unless you have grazing livestock, common milkweed and most other varieties are harmless and even beneficial.