# Hello from NW Mississippi



## scdw43 (Aug 14, 2008)

Welcome to Beesource.


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Welcome Dave!


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## volleypc (Jul 25, 2010)

Hello... I am in NE Mississippi myself and this will be my first year keeping bees. I have 3 hives built and ready to go and 3 packages set to arrive in early April. My beesuit and smoker arrive this week and that should complete everything I need to get started. I am going to be attending the Mississippi Beekeepers Association workshop in Jackson on April 7th.


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## paintingpreacher (Jul 29, 2006)

Welcome Dave. I am 20 miles east of Oxford. Yep I know what you mean about feeding. Looked in several today that may have to be fed. Good luck with the bees.


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## Jam (Jun 17, 2010)

I had the same eye-opening moment in February... I opened the hives on a nice day and found bees with NO stores  right before a nasty cold rain was supposed to hit. I put dry sugar in there, then started feeding 3 days later on the first over 45, semi-dry day... and now (about a month later) they are looking good, and I may be able to split them! Going to do a more in depth inspection this weekend, weather permitting!!

I do think I managed to catch them before anything went terribly wrong.


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## amazingbees (Mar 16, 2011)

Hi Dave, 

I started last year with 5 bee hives. I checked them yesterday for the first time this season and two of the hives had only dead bees. Today I went back to check better the three remaining and on the 1st I opened there are a lot of bees dead on the floor. I need some help. Can I clean the hive and how? There are many healthy bees and this shows to me that the hive is good but why the dead bees?

Can you help?

Marc


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## Davebcrzy (Mar 12, 2011)

Marc, If there are many healthy bees in the hive they will carry the dead bees out of the hive and do the cleaning themselves. However, if you want to give them some help, carefully remove the brood box and dump the dead bees and then replace the brood box. Sorry about the loss of the two hives. I understand that winters where you live can be rather tough on bees and especially this past winter.


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## amazingbees (Mar 16, 2011)

Thanks Dave,

Tomorrow I plan to inspect the next two hives. The one with the dead bees looks very alive with a lot of bees and hope it will be OK. What is the reason of so many dead bees? Also I have to find why the other two hives died.

Thanks again for the answer and hope we talk again,

Marc


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## Davebcrzy (Mar 12, 2011)

Marc, the reason you have dead bees and hives losses could be due to any number of reasons. First, you will have bee losses during winter and until the bees can break cluster and leave the hive and carry the dead bees out they stay in the hive. Another reason for this could be due to mites either varroa or tracheal mites. This could also be a reason that you lost hives. In some of the threads I have been reading, mites are a cause of hive losses during the winter. Another reason would be starvation. In the hives that died were there bees head first in the cells of the comb? That is starvtion. However, they could have starved due to prolonged cold temps when they could not break cluster. I know you guys had a brutal winter. Another reason for dead hives would be the hives became queenless during the winter. These would be my best guesses.

Hope your remaining hives remain strong.

Dave


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## amazingbees (Mar 16, 2011)

Davebcrzy said:


> Marc, the reason you have dead bees and hives losses could be due to any number of reasons. First, you will have bee losses during winter and until the bees can break cluster and leave the hive and carry the dead bees out they stay in the hive. Another reason for this could be due to mites either varroa or tracheal mites. This could also be a reason that you lost hives. In some of the threads I have been reading, mites are a cause of hive losses during the winter. Another reason would be starvation. In the hives that died were there bees head first in the cells of the comb? That is starvtion. However, they could have starved due to prolonged cold temps when they could not break cluster. I know you guys had a brutal winter. Another reason for dead hives would be the hives became queenless during the winter. These would be my best guesses.
> 
> Hope your remaining hives remain strong.
> 
> Dave


Dave,

thanks for all your help. You are right. Many bees were head first in the cells and all the frames were empty. I checked better the other three and one was strong and had supplies of honey, the other two were strong in numbers but no food. I start feeding them with sugar syrop. I will add an extra deep on every one hopping that the queens will make a lot of eggs and I will try to split them in April. Hope I recover the two I lost. 

Thanks again and keep in touch,

Marc


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