Crytalized honey in cells?

[K-R-Farms]

Picked up two hives the other day, from a local guy.
He said he just didn't have enough time for them anymore, after 30 years and 50 hives.

Ok, tip #1 for us new folks... INSPECT BEFORE YOU BUY
Last night I was going through the hives, and found a rat nest in one of them.  Comb on about three frames had been eaten away to make the rodent abode.
Now, here's where I got a little bit perplexed.

I found the queen.
she's layin.
The colony looks strong.
but in a few of the frames, it looks as though some of the cells had grains of sugar, or crystalized honey in them.
What is that?
Is it ok?

[bassman1977]

Once you clean up the mouse damage/debris, you should be fine.  Sighting a queen is encouraging.  I wouldn't worry about crystallized honey/sugar.  They'll either use it or clean it out.

[Scadsobees]

During a honey flow they will clean out the sugar crystals when they need that comb.  Every spring I find lots of sugar on the bottom board.

They will patch the comb holes.

The mouse probably left in the spring when it could find other food.  Or never stayed in the fall...they will actually kill the hive if they have the chance.

[K-R-Farms]

Do some folks not do regular inspections of the brood boxes?
I only imagine that it took some time to build the nest.
Perhaps he only concerned himself with the supers?
I don't know.

there was some white, worm-shaped pupae in between the brood boxes, on top of the bottom box's frames.  about 15 of them.
I wasn't sure if they were wax moth or not, so I just scraped them off and called it even.

Needless to say, just because someone says they've been doing this for years, doesn't mean they run a tight ship.

[derrick1p1]

Is she laying well?  How's the strength of this hive.  If all looks good despite their the neglect, you're on the right track.  Give them a good clean home and they should be okay.  I would feed them if they'll take it.  Might help them out as I would imagine they are a bit stressed from the larvae and mouse.

I can imagine that with my schedule, some of the hives may not get the attention they deserve if I had that many hives.  Although, it sounds as though this hive had not been inspected for some time.

[BearCreekBees]

INSPECT BEFORE YOU BUY- that's is great advice!

Our (new) local association ordered package bees this year for a demonstration apiary. I placed the order, and, anticipating that more new members might want bees after the deadline for ordering had passed, I ordered extra packages to make sure that everyone who wanted bees got them. After all of our members were sorted, we still had a few packages. I stuck them in some used boxes and offered them for sale to non-members. Now, I would HOPE that our own members would have confidence in the bees, lol, but I sold 7 or 8 hives to people I never met before, and not one of them even asked to look inside the hive before taking it home. Maybe I provided such a thorough explanation in my ad that no one felt the need to ask questions or do an inspection  :-* But, more likely they just never thought of it. Lucky for them we're not some fly-by-night outfit.

K-R, maybe you got some really good bees there who have thrived on neglect. Given a little TLC they might really do well for you! I sure hope they do.

[K-R-Farms]

This was a "I know a guy, who knows a guy, who happens to live only a few country miles away" scenario.
When opprotunity knocks, I try to open the door.
He dropped the hives off two nights ago at 9:45 pm.
Safe to say, not a prime inspecting time.
So yesterday, we broke into the hives, and voila.
I will say that these girls are strong.  I saw the queen, and she is laying.
But they are living in a pig pen.

I just(I mean 9 minutes ago) got off the phone with Troy, at Mann Lake.
He is UPS 3rd day-ing new hive bodies and frames.

Props to Mann Lake for great customer service, AND INVENTORY!

A whole new definition to "Busy as a bee"!

[BearCreekBees]

Please don't misunderstand my post- I wasn't being critical of you at all. Your post just reminded me of what happened when I sold hives and I thought it was strange that not one person asked to look. Nope, I understand completely- you have a chance, go for it. Anyway, sounds like you got some "survivor stock" all right, just not in the usual sense, lol.

[K-R-Farms]

hey, no misunderstanding!
I'm a sponge, who prides himself in being somewhat anal in preparing for new things.
Nobody likes making mistakes, and I like sharing mine.
Except for the other day when I walked into the wall.

The fact that there are people like you, help people like me have faith in folks.
It has also made handling a situation like mine, easier to deal with.

[Moonshae]

Sounds like a good way to accustom yourself to some problem hives and learn how to deal with them. So...if you ever encounter these problems again, you'll be well prepared.