« previous next »
Pages: [1] 2   Go Down

Author Topic: Dead hive  (Read 12016 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline LindsayBrower1

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 182
  • Thanked: 3 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Kerhonkson NY
Dead hive
« on: February 11, 2015, 05:04:47 pm »
Today was relatively warm so I decided to go out and check if my hives needed any feed. When I opened my hives I was shocked.. They smelled of vinegar and have been relieving themselves inside of the hives... All 4 that are here at my house. When I took the lid off the bees started flying, instantly pooping all over me as they flew above. There have been days where I would have thought the bees would attempt a cleansing flight and didn't.. They are in sun most of the day too. When I got inside I was alarmed by what I smelled. The bee poop on my jacket and pants smelled like dead rotten fish. 1 of  4 hives is dead and I'm worried about the rest,...  :'(


Logged
"The earth has music for those who listen"

Offline LindsayBrower1

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 182
  • Thanked: 3 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Kerhonkson NY
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2015, 05:07:32 pm »
The picture is of the dead hive
Logged
"The earth has music for those who listen"

Offline Jen

  • Platinum Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10175
  • Thanked: 240 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Upper California
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2015, 05:08:24 pm »
Ooooh Lindsay, that is a bummer! Let's see what the experts say
Logged
There Is Peace In The Queendom

Offline Perry

  • Global Moderator
  • Gold Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 7382
  • Thanked: 390 times
  • Gender: Male
    • Brandt's Bees
  • Location: Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2015, 05:46:21 pm »
Nosema Apis is my first guess.
Any chance of pulling a few frames and taking some pics?
Did you feed any fumagillin in the fall?
Logged
"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor."      
Forum Supporter

Offline brooksbeefarm

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 2566
  • Thanked: 89 times
  • Location: fair grove, mo.
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2015, 06:33:59 pm »
It hurts me to say this,but from what i see i have to agree with the Bug Detective. :o Jack
Logged

Offline Perry

  • Global Moderator
  • Gold Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 7382
  • Thanked: 390 times
  • Gender: Male
    • Brandt's Bees
  • Location: Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2015, 06:41:56 pm »
Quote from: brooksbeefarm on February 11, 2015, 06:33:59 pm
It hurts me to say this,but from what i see i have to agree with the Bug Detective. :o Jack

Now that wasn't so bad, was it it Jack? :laugh:
Logged
"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor."      
Forum Supporter

Offline riverbee

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 8924
  • Thanked: 410 times
  • Gender: Female
  • ***Forum Sponsor***
  • Location: El Paso Twp, Wisconsin
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2015, 06:44:31 pm »
like jack said lindsay, what perry "the bug detective" said.........
i have seen a great deal worse than this.  if you have remaining hives, and are concerned as soon as you can get some fumagillin on them.

like perry, would like to see some pix of the frames themselves.
Logged
i keep wild things in a box..........™
if you obey the rules, you miss all the fun.....katherine hepburn
Forum Sponsor

Offline LindsayBrower1

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 182
  • Thanked: 3 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Kerhonkson NY
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2015, 08:27:21 pm »
Ok I'm going to look up and look into the fumagillin. I'll have to get some pictures of the frames tomorrow. Is there anything I could have done to prevent this? I'm feeling like a fail  :sad:
Logged
"The earth has music for those who listen"

Offline riverbee

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 8924
  • Thanked: 410 times
  • Gender: Female
  • ***Forum Sponsor***
  • Location: El Paso Twp, Wisconsin
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2015, 08:59:56 pm »
don't feel like a 'fail' lindsay. we have all experienced the 'wrath' of the nosemas.........
prevent it?
feeding them in the fall with a dose of fumagillan added to sugar syrup, and even one dose going into spring.
i usually feed a dose in the fall months.
Logged
i keep wild things in a box..........™
if you obey the rules, you miss all the fun.....katherine hepburn
Forum Sponsor
The following users thanked this post: LindsayBrower1

Offline LazyBkpr

  • Global Moderator
  • Gold Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 6842
  • Thanked: 205 times
  • Gender: Male
  • www.outyard.net
    • The Outyard
  • Location: Richland Iowa
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #9 on: February 11, 2015, 09:07:02 pm »

   You do the best you can for them, and then you cross your fingers Lindsay..  I FED Fumagillin B last fall, and I have already lost a couple hives to Nosema..     The sugar cake on the top bars was covered, yellow and brown, and yes, it smelled much like you mention.
   How warm is it there?  Warm enough to mix 1/1 with Fumagilin and then spray it on the bees?
   I am keeping an eye on my bees now. its too cold here to do any spraying or wetting, or even feed a liquid, so the next attempt is going to be mixing the fumagilin with hot water, and using that to make Sugar cakes..   i dont know if it will work, but it is SOMETHING to do to TRY to help when its too cold to do anything else.......
   Keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Logged
Drinking RUM before noon makes you a PIRATE not an alcoholic!

*Sponsor*
The following users thanked this post: LindsayBrower1

Offline LindsayBrower1

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 182
  • Thanked: 3 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Kerhonkson NY
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #10 on: February 11, 2015, 09:09:26 pm »
Thanks Riverbee I'm certainly going to check it out ASAP.
I'm just upset at the thought of having nothing coming into spring... I actually can't even wrap my mind around how I'd feel if that were the case. I went to great lengths and efforts to catch a lot of bees last season. Whatever they have could have steamed from my southern jester nucs I bought to start with in April. Those were my first two hives. They started giving me red flags when the cold came around. They had the most dead bees just piled at the entrances  and were the first to mess all over the front of the hive.
Logged
"The earth has music for those who listen"

Offline LindsayBrower1

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 182
  • Thanked: 3 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Kerhonkson NY
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #11 on: February 11, 2015, 09:16:55 pm »
Lazybkpr today was about 38 but tomorrow begins below average temps with wind chills 15-30 below. You can relate to the smell? The vinegar or the dead fish? My gosh the fish smell on my clothes was so strong my 2 year old gave me the "look" when I came through the front door...
Thank you for the well wishes, they go a long way.
Logged
"The earth has music for those who listen"

Offline riverbee

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 8924
  • Thanked: 410 times
  • Gender: Female
  • ***Forum Sponsor***
  • Location: El Paso Twp, Wisconsin
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #12 on: February 11, 2015, 09:26:05 pm »
lindsay, we learn as we go.  it's just the way it is.  don't be hard on yourself, so now you move forward with the knowledge you have, but doesn't mean if you do all the right things it doesn't happen again.

it's hard keeping bees, work hard, think we give them the best to go into winter months, and they die for one reason or another and come spring we are very disheartened at our losses.  hang in there, it's the way it is sometimes.  just know all of us have experienced this and feel or felt the same as you. i still do. it's never easy. 

as scott said, well wishes to you and your bees.  never know, they might surprise you and do alright.
Logged
i keep wild things in a box..........™
if you obey the rules, you miss all the fun.....katherine hepburn
Forum Sponsor

Offline LazyBkpr

  • Global Moderator
  • Gold Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 6842
  • Thanked: 205 times
  • Gender: Male
  • www.outyard.net
    • The Outyard
  • Location: Richland Iowa
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #13 on: February 11, 2015, 09:29:21 pm »
OK, so your a little further north than I am, I think I knew that, just needed reminded.  I live in the SE corner of Iowa just very slightly north of the 41st parallel.
   I checked on a hive I was certain was doomed with Nosema about a month ago..  a couple days ago I flipped the top off to clean the hive out, and got a face full of angry bees...   I really wasnt expecting that, so keep your fingers crossed..  Also, Give Rob a call. Does he do any queens?  Getting a local queen in your hives would give them a bonus to survivability.
Logged
Drinking RUM before noon makes you a PIRATE not an alcoholic!

*Sponsor*

Offline LindsayBrower1

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 182
  • Thanked: 3 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Kerhonkson NY
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #14 on: February 11, 2015, 09:43:51 pm »
Yes I contacted him earlier but figured I'd post here as well while I waited to hear back from him. We did a brief round of rearing last season together and had plans to really get into it this year... I should have requeened all of my hives but figured I'd let it play out and see where things went... I completely agree about acclimated queens, we just didn't do enough queens to the point where I would have replaced all 9 hives I had at the time.
Logged
"The earth has music for those who listen"

Offline LindsayBrower1

  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 182
  • Thanked: 3 times
  • Gender: Female
  • Location: Kerhonkson NY
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #15 on: February 11, 2015, 09:46:42 pm »
I'm kicking myself for not at least making an effort to requeened the jester nucs... They were doing so well I figured I'd chance it. Rob always did say "  "even bad queen can perform like good queens when conditions are ideal,  it is when the weather turns that bad queens fail"
Logged
"The earth has music for those who listen"

Offline riverbee

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 8924
  • Thanked: 410 times
  • Gender: Female
  • ***Forum Sponsor***
  • Location: El Paso Twp, Wisconsin
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #16 on: February 11, 2015, 10:50:53 pm »
"I'm kicking myself for not at least making an effort to requeened the jester nucs... They were doing so well I figured I'd chance it. Rob always did say " a good queen is a good queen when the conditions are favorable..."

why are you kicking yourself lindsay, rob's right, why requeen if there is a good queen and things are going well?

also, acclimated queens are not going to guarantee an absence of nosema.  just my HO....
Logged
i keep wild things in a box..........™
if you obey the rules, you miss all the fun.....katherine hepburn
Forum Sponsor

Offline Perry

  • Global Moderator
  • Gold Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 7382
  • Thanked: 390 times
  • Gender: Male
    • Brandt's Bees
  • Location: Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #17 on: February 12, 2015, 06:41:30 am »
Listen to the comments above Lindsay. Sometimes you can do everything right and still have it all go left. If this thing we do was easy, everyone would be doing it.
Those that stick with it have a common denominator and that is persistence.
All is not yet lost.
Logged
"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor."      
Forum Supporter

Ray

  • Guest
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #18 on: February 12, 2015, 10:07:12 am »
Antibiotics!  :sad:
IMO
The whole idea behind survivor bees is that the ones without the appropriate genetics do NOT survive.
I can understand using fumagillin, to prop up a colony, to have bees to requeen.
I don't understand the wholesale use of antibiotics as preventative maintenance.
done ranting now  ;D
Logged

Offline brooksbeefarm

  • Gold Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 2566
  • Thanked: 89 times
  • Location: fair grove, mo.
Re: Dead hive
« Reply #19 on: February 12, 2015, 10:25:36 am »
Hey Scott, will mixing fumagillin in hot water kill it's action? i know your supposed to keep ot out of the sun light when feeding? I don't know, just wondering ???. Jack
Logged
Pages: [1] 2   Go Up
« previous next »