white or clear dead bees

[vvand111]

I had several white or clear looking dead bees outside 1 of my hives??

[Perry]

Would need to see pics if possible. Sounds like pupae maybe?

[vvand111]

Yes perry in very late stage. Only 2 bees but not sure what to make?

[Lburou]

Perry is correct about pictures clearing things up for a diagnosis.  But not having all the facts hasn't stopped me before now, so there are some things we can throw out there for you to consider. 

Our/your temperatures have been whipsawing this spring, it is conceivable that some of the brood wasn't covered during cold nights and had to be aborted and brought out with other debris during housecleaning.  Another, more likely, possibility would be hygienic activity where the bees removed pupa from cells containing mites.  A lot of possibilities, the pictures may narrow it down a bit.

If that is all you see, don't worry about it. 

[vvand111]

I will try again to post the photo.

I did do a sticky board on both my hives over last weekend and again midweek this week.

To my astonishment I could not find 1 mite either time

[vvand111]

Trying to post pic not sure if it is going to work

[vvand111]

It worked

we have 65 degrees plus here for the next week or more.

This hive is so strong. 2 deeps and a medium.

I had peeked in earlier and knew the medium was full of honey.  Today I took the medium off to take a look below. The deep below is packed with honey as well. The bees have been building cone between the 2 and the cone has 6 to 8 day old larva almost as developed as the picks above. It is a mess as I split this cone in taking medium off.

Could this hive already be honeybound?  Center frames in deep had nothing but honey I saw no eggs or larva except between the 2 boxes.

I di nothing and did not go into bottom deep as I wanted to ask opinion before I go into bottom deep.

[Mikey N.C.]

VV,  I'm not that experienced in this situation but I've heardfeed 2:1 and feed heavy. Until ya know flow starts

[Perry]

Spring is 1 to 1 sugar syrup (simulates nectar flow and stimulates brood production).
Fall is 2 parts sugar to 1 part water syrup (reduces the workload for the bees to reduce moisture level before storing it)

If the medium is full I would remove it and just leave the 2 deeps. Next, I would find out what is going on in the lower deep. Does the queen have room to lay in if that upper deep is plugged with honey?

[riverbee]

vv, i am with lee and perry, possibly hygenic behavior or chilled brood.  i would want to see whats going on in the bottom deep to see what the frames contain. if the deep is packed with honey, the queen can't lay. also, i would want to check the cells for any developing larvae still in cells similar to what was carried out the front door.

[vvand111]

Thank you to all.   I know I am a newbee and realize that most of you have more knowledge than I.

What it looks like to me is  the following.

We have had an incredible bizarre winter. Temps have never been cold for more than 2 or 3 days. The girls have been bringing in pollen all year.

I wonder if they ever really clustered. I also know I have no mites or if I do very few.  Both hives are very strong.

The hive is full of honey. There does not appear to be a place for the queen to lay eggs.  She has moved up and layed eggs above the 2ed deep and below the honey super.

My thought is to go back in tomorrow. I will remove 5 of the 10 honey store frames in the 2ed deep. I will make this deep 3 middle foundation frames with no honey and no comb. I will then rotate frames of honey and empty foundation to each outer edge. I will not replace the  top medium box full of honey and replace with 1 to 1 sugar water feeder with inner cover on top with upper entrance and top outer cover above.

This is a plan. Please tell me I am way off base. 

I will put the honey frames in freezer for 48 hours and if I need them to feed back I have them.  I already have 8 frames in freezer now that I am surprised to have as I was told no honey the first year. So much honey and no mites???  sounds weird to me based on all I have read for over 2 years.

Vandy

[LazyBkpr]

Winter here is crazy as well.. I have quite a lot of pupae being pulled out.. it gets warm, then it freezes, gets warm ,and then freezes...  ugly situation...

  if you have laying room down below, which i assume you do if you are seeing pupae like that being pulled out, then you should be just fine. As already said, they may have died in a cold snap and been removed.

   Put the drawn combs in the middle of the second deep for the queen to lay in, don't worry about frames with only foundation unless you have a flow starting down there because they will not start drawing it yet, try to use comb if you have it. When the flow starts, pull the honey and give them some empty frames to draw to the outer edges of the brood nest.
   Also.. you DO have mites, but you may not have many yet. We all have them unless we live in Australia.
   I WISH I had the extra frames with honey....   Your in a good place right now!

[vvand111]

Thanks Lazy. I realize that I do have Mites but it must be very low.  1 of my hives is Waynes's bees never treated. Some mites but nothing to worry about in the fall.  Now I am seeing nothing.

# 2 had horrible mites  I did a total of 5 OAV treatments as fall and winter arrived.  Some of that must have worked well.

BEGINNERS luck so far.  It will devastate me to share my first loss but I know It will happen. 

As I said in the above post I am just trying to the best of my knowledge to develop my own strategy based on good principles of bee keeping.  This is why I post what I intend on doing.

Thanks for your feed back

[Perry]

We all need luck at times, beginners or not.

[Zweefer]

Amen!  Of course I'm with Walter Mosley : "If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all"

[vvand111]

Gosh guys, I was posting my thoughts. If there is something that jumps out that I am making a mistake please let me know.

I posted the pics to get feedback. Tell me where I am off base because that is why I am here.  I appreciate what L from Texas said and I think he is probably right.  Maybe I do not need to worry about it until it changes but given the update I have provided I am concerned

[riverbee]

hey vandy, i just think you might have had some chilled bees or some hygienic behavior that's all.  mite loads will ramp up soon.
ask a forum of beekeepers for opinions and well............   it makes for some great discussion! makes your head spin!  we are all just trying to be helpful.  take what you think applies and leave the rest. 

thanks for starting the thread!

ps. don't ever stop posting your thoughts and asking for feedback!

[vvand111]

Thanks river,  Thanks L from Texas and as always thanks Perry.

I am just trying my best. I think the strategy that I posted above makes sense but River gave me a few aspects to keep in mind.  Unfortunately  I have no drawn out cone as this is my 1st year and the only way I could have it is taking honey, Harvesting, and getting it back in hive. I will try but in the mean time I have to put something back. That in my case will be undrawn plastic foundation frames.

I have a lot of honey and have never harvested. My goal was to leave it for the bees. It appears I need to harvest and return the comb back so they can get a better step up for this year??

Thanks
Vandy

[vvand111]

Lazy I did not mean to exclude you

I appreciate the feedback


I am guessing that short of what I wrote above and your recommendations that this is what I will do. You do understand I have no built out foundation and I will put the feeder on instead of the super with a 1-1 sugar mix. This means I will harvest a great deal of honey tomorrow, 10 medium frames and at least 5 deep frames from the top deep. I will replace the super with 1-1 feeder of sugar water.

Wow  I think that's what I will do??

[Zweefer]

Liberating isn't it? I find making up ones mind and having a plan of action is most of the battle.