I removed Hive 3 and instead of finding an empty hive, I found the hive full of dead bees. They were mostly at the bottom, but I also had clusters of dead bees on the frames.
I put a note out to the Brattleboro Beekeepers group on Facebook with these photos and was told that it's probably Varroa mites that killed them. I didn't do anything about Varroa last year, thinking they are treated before arriving and last year was my first year with these bees. However, I was wrong.
I also signed up for the Vermont Beekeepers Association who offer free courses to members. Other courses cost money and I seem to spend enough on buying the bees (necessary) and equipment (necessary) and haven't attended courses lately. So I will attend the VBA courses this year. They appear to be hands-on too so I hope to gain more knowledge and avoid the pitfalls I've experienced.
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| Dead bees everywhere in the hive, even clustered on the frame. |
Here's what I found throughout the hive. At least there will be some honey to feed the new bees when they arrive. I put the frames that had any honey from this one hive into the freezer until then. Freezing them should also kill any mites that might have been on the frames...if they survived the winter.
I have two more hives to clean up once this snow melts. One will be left in the yard to house the new bees to come. The other will go down into the basement until needed...praying it is needed at some point.
I noticed that the mesclun started in the greenhouse has sprouted. I can't wait to eat fresh greens again. What you get at the grocery store sure isn't the same as fresh from the garden. Once this snow melts, I plan to put a row cover out in the garden and plant other greens. I left the cover on for the entire season last year and it worked beautifully to keep things from disappearing overnight by the night visitors.
