# Dead hive



## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

sorry to hear about the loss of one of your hives. The combs are definitely worth saving! If you can cycle them through your freezer for 48 hrs, then it should kill off any pest eggs. If stored in a lighted area (like open air overhang or an open shelf in the house), the beetles and wax moths should leave them alone for the winter. Hopefully in the spring you will be able to split the strong colony, and by having drawn comb, you can expect a honey crop from the split.

As for storing the comb inside a sealed hive, you will have condensation inside and the combs will have mold on the surface. The textbooks will tell you that the bees will "clean it up and use the comb" but mine forgot to read that part. They wouldn't touch those combs that I stored inside the hives last winter behind the follower boards.


----------



## DiPhi (May 16, 2015)

Sadly, robbers came and killed off the second hive as well. 

This was a good opportunity to decide if I want to continue beekeeping, and I do! 

Now I have three empty hives to fill. I saved a lot of the bars with comb. They have been placed in the freezer for at least 48 hours and are now wrapped in plastic wrap sitting in the kitchen. Can I move them out to the hives now, or should I wait till spring?

I'm thinking it makes sense to purchase one package of bees and try to catch a swarm if I can. And I have a friend who is willing to give me some of her bees, which are descendants of Les Crowder's bees. 

Does this make sense? Or should I try to buy a mite-resistant queen from someone else? 

I really miss my bees and want to be a better beekeeper for them! 

I'm going to implement a much more vigorous IPM program this time! We will survive!


----------



## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

packages are the fastest way to get more bees but I'd definitely recommend requeening later in the season with a mite-resistant queen. I bought some from Wildflower meadows in CA this fall and so far, they seem to be really good.


----------



## DiPhi (May 16, 2015)

Thanks! I'll look into them! I hadn't thought about requeening, but that's a great idea!


----------



## dpressley (May 12, 2014)

Use those combs to bait swarms in the spring! I'm up in the SF Bay Area and for us sometimes that means Feb!!! Be ready


----------

