Spring moisture problems

[jester7891]

          I live on the New Jersey Pennsylvania border and removed my entrance reducers about two weeks ago.  It was also the first time I went into the hive since the fall.  The bees seemed to have done pretty well over the winter (my first year) and there was leftover honey.  I have already started feeding them sugar water and everybody seems happy.  These are the problems I found.

   I bought my entrance reducers from Brushy Mountain and I think they worked pretty well (no mice).  I did find moisture the brood chamber walls on the side of the entrance reducers that did not have the little holes. The four frames completely opposite to the little holes (i.e. the frames that were hidden behind the closed reducer) had fungus (I believe to be a fungus) on them. There was no bee activity going on these frames. I took the four frames out and replaced them with four new frames that obviously have to be drawn out. All of the other frames looked okay and there were bees in different stages of development.  I did see a few waxed moths that the bees dragged to the front of the hive.  Is this acceptable or do I need to treat? 

        The upper chamber frames all looked in good condition.  I did find some moisture/wetness on the inside of the outer cover (which I switched with a new unused cover).  Last year, I made sure that the hive is slanted a little bit forward so that water runs out if necessary.  The rest of the hive walls and frames looked very dry. The only other opening to the hive throughout the winter was the small notch found on the inner cover.  How do I prevent the moisture problem (and ensuing fungus) the next time around?

        Once again thanks for all of your help and information.


               Jester
      

[jdpro5010]

I leave the bottom entrance open (no reducer) and just take some 1/2" hardware cloth folded in a vee and stuff it in the entrance.  I have never had a mouse problem doing this.

[buzzbee]

Also,make sure you don't feed syrup too late in the fall .It needs to be capped before the cold sets in. Also,make sure you don't give syrup when its too cold in spring.Uncapped syrup will mold over.

[Tucker1]

I found a little moisture/condensation on the inside of my top cover as well as just the top surfaces of the upper frames.  I suspect this is from the bagged sugar water I had feed them about a month ago. Other than that, the hive was pretty dry. Some of the honey located on the corners of the frames did not get eaten during the winter. All in all, my girls seemed to have done fairly well over the winter.