Lots of dead bees.

Started by ryanmc4, April 06, 2012, 10:54:27 AM

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ryanmc4




Hello I am new to beekeeping and I need your advice and pointers realy on a few issues with my new bees. I took on an over wintered colony last week and went out to have another look at them today to find a whole heap of dead bees under the hive. there also seems to be a fair number of bees congregating on the underside of the hive too. I carried out a full inspection and there are plenty of stores, brood and larvae, I couldnt find the queen but will hope that she is there as all the indications were of that she was there at least recently. I have gone to a brood and a half already just to give them room as there certainly are plenty of bees and several full supers of honey already. If you can shed any insight into the cause of the dead bees and the congregation on the bottom then I would be greatly appreciative.

Cheers

Ryan

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AllenF

Where are you located?    Honey supers left over from last year?   How many boxes total?

ryanmc4

Hello, based in the UK (Lincoln), some honey from last year and some produced this due to the charming weather recently. In total its a brood box and a half with a single super, so three in total.

hardwood

Do you have a screened bottom board? Sometimes after a move some of the bees have a hard time orienting to the new position and gather there.

Scott
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

akia703

I, too, had a huge ball of bees on the underside of my 2 screened bottom boards.  I had installed 2 nucs a week ago and both hives did the same thing.  Day before yesterday, I went out and had at least 100 dead bees under the hive.  I guess they starved to death.  I ended up reversing the screened bottom board overnight and today they seem to all be in the hives.  At least, I didn't have any dead bees under the hives this morning.  However, I have gotten different opinions as to whether or not they might have gotten inside and killed my queen.  Has anybody else had any experience with this?