# Couple dozen bees walking on ground, fall from landing board...



## NeilV (Nov 18, 2006)

My first suggestion would be to inspect the inside of that hive to see what's going on inside. 

Beyond that, could be several things. Those bees may have Nosema (N. ceranae would be most likely at this time). I would not think it would be tracheal mites this time of year, but could be wrong about that. Could have a virus of some sort. Could have gotten into a pesticide.


----------



## OzarkBee (May 1, 2011)

Thank you so much for the help (if not the news...). I checked out the hive though and all looks wellat least to my eyes, great actually - busting with bees. Other than that handful, didn't see any more signs of more walking-bees. So I'm going to hope whatever it was is limited to those... Again, thanks for the things to look out for...


----------



## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

I've always had a few 'walking bees' since I installed the packages in April. Guess I figured it was a normal thing to do before they died. All my hives are in good shape.


----------



## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

With a large population, lots of bees must be old and dying. Could be that.


----------



## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

Could also be tracheal mites. Not to worry though if it is only a few bees. Most of our bees today have a good tolerance for tm. But it isn't unusual for a small percentage to have symptoms. If the colony is otherwise vigorous....I wouldn't be too concerned.


----------



## SwedeBee1970 (Oct 26, 2008)

Are they Drones ? Maybe the end of their natural life cycle. Hundreds are born every day.


----------



## rwurster (Oct 30, 2010)

Haha funny thing in the past week all the dead bees I have seen on the ground have been drones, even the toads cant clean all the dead ones up at night.


----------



## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

Similar observations with some of mine. I have noticed that larger numbers of crawlers seem to be associated with orientation flights. They seem to be young as they have fuzz and the wings are not tattered. Some have what appears to be a "mild" case of DWV in that only one back wing is affected. Any thoughts on DWV affecting the wing muscles with no obvious deformed wing? No evidence of Nosema. Can't say about TM.


----------



## Seymore (May 1, 2009)

Have you done a mite count/check for varroa?

This is a link to a good description of how to do a sugar shake test for varroa. Don't have to kill the bees to test it this way. Just makes them buzzing mad. 

http://www.frugalbee.com/Honey_Bee_Stuff/varroa_mite/body_varroa_mite.html


----------



## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

Rick 1456 said:


> Some have what appears to be a "mild" case of DWV in that only one back wing is affected.


Is the back wing deformed in any way? Or, is it just separated from the front wing?
If these are young bees and the rear wing is separated from the front wing, without any wing deformity, you may be seeing 'k wing', a classic symptom of tracheal mites.


----------



## Rick 1456 (Jun 22, 2010)

Actually both, but definitely the detached in some. One of the hives is a swarm from early June. I thought it odd the mite pop. would/could be that high to exacerbate it that much. The TM makes more sense. I'm getting ready to do mite counts for queen evaluation. Might help tell the story. Otherwise, they are all healthy hives going into winter.
Thanks


----------

