It was warm and sunny at the weekend and I wanted to quickly inspect the bees to see if there was any brood. On the off-chance there was no brood I was going to apply a late Oxalic Acid Treatment. As it turned out, there was no brood, but neither were there any bees. The video speaks for itself.
Post-mortem
So. My first colony of honeybees are dead. The frames were full of honey. There were a few dead bees on the frames, but most were on the floor. There were about 15 drone cells, some with brood in. My initial diagnosis, and my fear over the last 6 months, was lack of a mated Queen and hence no new bees. Other possibilities were too small a cluster resulting in them freezing to death, too high a Varroa count or disease.
My small apiary, which now consists of an empty hive, was part of the EU Honeybee Surveillance Programme so I called the Divisional Bee Inspector. He concurred with my thoughts but wanted to check them for any disease. He is coming on Friday. I will let you know of any diagnosis and also get more advice on what to do with them all.
Will I have to burn the hive or will it be good for a many more seasons. And can I eat all the honey in there? Should I be having such thoughts at this time and so quickly?
Dealing With Death
I was not as traumatised as one might have expected. I am disappointed that my first colony of bees did not survive the Winter. I am disappointed that on warm days like we have had this week I will not see my bees out and about. I did not beat myself up and over-analyse if I was a bad beekeeper. Rather, I looked to the future …
Starting Again
One of the good things about beekeeping, and Spring in general, is renewal. Colonies will start swarming in April and May and I will get the chance to start the process all over again … except this year, my second year, hopefully, I will be a bit better and a bit braver.
Read More
- Combining Hives = Less To Worry About – This is where the problem started
- Laying Workers Killed My Queen – A bee inspector visits and assess the cause of death
- Grieving For Bees – A colony fails due to starvation and I talk more about my grief process
- Beekeepers Anonymous – A support group to help us beekeepers deal with the loss of colonies
- EU Honeybee Surveillance Programme – More about this study
- Oxalic Acid Treatment – More about this varroa treatment I was intending to apply (albeit late)
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Your video was heartbreaking. 🙁
Did the inspector visit? We’re you able to figure out what happened?
Hi Julie, Thanks for your concern. Yes, the inspector called and I have written more about it at Laying Workers Killed My Queen.
Very sorry to hear this. Lots of people seem to be losing their hives this winter. I’m sure the bee inspector will have given you good advice on what to do next, but you don’t need to burn the hive boxes unless AFB/EFB has been confirmed. Otherwise, dispose of any brood comb and singe the brood boxes lightly with a blowtorch. The honey should be fine as long as you haven’t treated the bees with any anti-varroa products since the bees created it, such as Apiguard (will make the honey taste of thyme).
Hi Emily, the “honey” in the hive was mostly sugar they converted and was definitely tainted with Apiguard. I am now converting to 14×12’s so will use a couple of frames per hive to help manage Varroa, ie. drone culling. The inspector thinks Laying Workers Killed My Queen.