I lost my one and only hive

[beemaster]

About a week ago (maybe 10 days) we had a warm day and hasd a good cleansing flight, lots of bee poo all over the cars and what snow remained on the ground.

Sunday, we had a high of 68 and when I wenthome saw no activity from the hive. I loudlt kicked the box with my steel-toe boot four or five times and waited.. Nothing happened. I broke apart the honey loaded hive and found no more that 50 bees, 3 of which where alive and none dead of the hive floor or buried in the cells.

All I had was a nandful of bees in a clusters where they were left to die at the first sign of severe cold which we are back in again. This sure sounds like CCD, I not only say the week before the cleansing matter but say lots of bees transgressing the landing board. What on Earth is happening?

So now, I'm going to crush and strain at lease 80-90 pounds of honey, and wait until Spring to decide what is next.

I have been slow uploading about 20 minutes of radio content about CCD which interviews beekeepers with 40 years experience, gives realistic data and covers the topic very seriously - I'll do my best to get it online today in the CCD forum.

I wish everyone better luck - but when you only have one hive, any loss is catastrophic.

[Billy The Beekeeper]

When ur hive dies of starvation and the bee's r in the comb do u just take like twizers and pull them out or do u do somethin else so that u can reuse the combs and stuff cause i got a 3lb package of bee's and a russian queen comin and im wantin to reuse it so they can get strong quick and im also hopen to find a coupla swarms this some and gain 2+ hives cause i only got 2 atm  :) and thx for the goodluck too i wish u well also

[Mici]

so sad to hear that. plus, this gives the CCD a whole brand new meaning. if you know what i mean? mostly we talked and scientist said that only big keepers and the ones that go on pollanizations were struck, but now...

got ANYTING in your area that has been suspected for causing CCD?
hope we stay clear of it here in E.

[Billy The Beekeeper]

What is CCD i hope i dont get it cause it sounds bad well g2g be back in a coupla hours thx  :)  :mrgreen:

[Mici]

colony collapse disorder a.k.a. dwindle disease
there's a whole forum about it, under this one, check it out, you'll be,...at least shocked!

[Robo]

When ur hive dies of starvation and the bee's r in the comb do u just take like twizers and pull them out or do u do somethin else so that u can reuse the combs

Just brush off what dead bees you can and leave the ones that are head first in the cells.  The new bees will clean them out quickly.  The cleaning is much easier for them then repairing the damage you do to the comb removing the bees yourself.

Good luck.

[Kathyp]

isn't that odd.  i think someone else described about the same thing.  bees during the first warm up, then no bees.  to early in the year for any kind of spraying?  it is here.

it just makes you feel bad.  who could believe we'd get so attached to 'bugs'.

[Billy The Beekeeper]

lmao u would never have figured u could get so attached to a bug till u become a beekeeper aye and thx for the info guys  :)

[Ruben]

Beemaster if you are driving down I-81 in Va anytime in April I am about 1 min. off of the interstate and I would be glad to put some frames of bees and brood together to get you a hive going again. We can't have the BeeMaster with no bees gotta help him out.

Ruben

[Understudy]

Sorry about the loss of your bees. I don't know if was CCD. tillie had the same problem and I believe that was probably due to loss of the queen.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[beemaster]

I too don't know if CCD is/was a problem, I know their honey stores was in great abundance and had really expected them to survive.

I'll be getting a hive going again in Spring, thanks Rubin for the bee offer, I've had a few already and surely will keep you in mind. My last trip on 81 into Virginia was a scary mountian decent with my 38 fot motorhome and tow dolly with car into Monroe, VA - read about it here http://www.beemaster.com/blueridge.html

It sure was beautiful, but a good drive from here.

I'll be back, I got camera equipment to put youtube videos together and surely I won't miss out on that because of this setback. And yes, we sure do get attached to those little buggers, not like cats or dogs - but when you lose your only colony, it feels like you have just started over as if you never had a bee in your life.

That's the thing commercial keepers have over us - they get a bit less attached and expect loss, us backyard beekeepers are a bit more "Paternal to our critters" :)

[Ruben]

Beemaster, I see you visted my area in the link you posted about your rv trip. I live in Rockbridge County which got its name because of Natural Bridge which was in your pictures. Most people that visit it don't realize that Rt 11 actually goes over the bridge above.

[BeeHopper]

OH NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Beemaster has no bees !  That's like saying the Emperor has no clothes !

[eivindm]

Sad to hear about your bees, John. 

I'm screening the news each day looking for news about bees and beekeeping.  There has been a lot lately about CCD, probably since it affect the businesses that depends on the pollination performed by the bees, so now the news is interesting to all people, not just the beekeepers.  I live in Norway, and we have no CCD yet.  But we usually get the diseases you get first at a later stage, and I guess we eventually get CCD unless we find a cure first, or there are done more to prevent moving bees between the continents.

I hope you decide to get a few hives again, John. I loved to read about C1 and C2 in your beekeeping diary  :)

[BeeHopper]

I emailed my bee supplier with my concerns with CCD last month. Their response: Oldtimers ( Beeks ) in their area said they have seen this before and were not overly concern with it spreading any further. They blamed it on excessive rain, short honey flows and stress on the bees when moving hives last year, increased their susceptibility to mites and diseases.

John, I wish you the best with your new girls when get them.  :)

[beemaster]

Thanks Everyone:

I'm sitting on a audio recording from a late night national talk show - about 20 minutes of content from 2 shows from one of the nations leading paranormal reporter Linda Molton Howel - the CCD has reached such a thunderous noise in the main stream news that is has brought great attention to beekeeping lately.

I'll be adding the radio broadcast later today to the CCD forum. Some of you will find nothing new except maybe a generic description, others may learn a greater understanding of what impact CCD could have.

I'm waiting on warmer days, so cold in the East here that the last thing I wish to do is mess with a dead colony of bees. But soon we'll all have a better look into the hive - camera is always ready and we'll see exactly what it looks like.

[Cindi]

John, all I can say to you is awe, I feel bad.  I know, I lost abot 8 colonies last fall, varroa mite though.  Undoubtedly, no CCD.  Just plain neglect on my part, just thinking all was well with my colonies, when it was not. Life is for learning.  We are stardust.

Glad that you will replace your hive.  You should keep two, just in case one croaks, you then have at least something else to keep your mind at peace.  Best of the best day.  Cindi

[Kris^]

John, it's going around bad.  I just did a check of my hives this morning.  Out of 10 that I started with in the fall, I had 7 showing activity 2 weeks ago.  Today I have 4 that are showing strong flight.  Two more have a small amount of bees in them but aren't actively flying.  Maybe I can transfer them into nucs and build them up again.  But it's a real disappointment, I agree.  One week of temperatures in the teens does it. 

-- Kris

[Cindi]

Kris, that is too bad.  Don't lose hope though, build up and make more.  Good luck.  Best of the day.  Cindi

[tig]

any colony loss hurts, be it due to mites, AFB, poisoning, etc.  i know how bad you must feel and i hope you do better with your new colony.