# Dead hive???



## Lynn (Aug 16, 2011)

I went out to check on the hive and found 1 of the 4 has died. There is plenty of honey, pollen and bees, but almost all the bees are piled up on the screened bottom board and against the south side (inside) of the hive. We treated for varroa last fall with Hopguard. We have been checking the debris board below the screened bottom board and have seen around 10-15 mites per week. Last checked the hive last Saturday and while we did not open it up, bees were flying and the hive was humming.

Attached are a couple of pictures. Would appreciate any suggestions. The other three hives appear to be doing great today. Since the dead bees are in the hive, is there anywhere I can send a sample for a disease diagnosis? I live in Missouri but can ship anywhere.

Thanks in advance.


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## Tony Teolis (Jun 27, 2011)

I had similar situation recently and ordered a home AFB test kit as well as sent sample of capped brood and dead bees to the USDA in Beltsville for free eval. Still waiting for results from USDA but home test kit revealed no AFB. Waiting ... All posted at http://todolisthome.com postes: December 28, 31 and January 6. 

Tony


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## Tony Teolis (Jun 27, 2011)

The results are in for dead out and they are in line with the other determinations that the Varroa destructor was respoible. http://todolisthome.com/honey-bee-hive-a-bee-disease-diagnosis/ has the report and my thoughts. Let's keep on learning.


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

All my dead hives this winter have been due to varroa mites, the hives were full of bees and food going into late fall, and in the last couple weeks with the very cold weather the hives that are weak in population due to mites have died. All exhibit the same evidence, plenty of sealed and unsealed honey within 1-2 inches of cluster, and the cluster itself about the size of a baseball with queen. One hive I examined today was clustering on frames of honey, capped and uncapped, they were in direct contact with the food but froze because they couldn't stay warm, this hive was well insulated too. John


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## BeverlyBees (Feb 5, 2012)

Lynn, did you send your bees away for testing? It's really easy to do. In your pictures there is some mite poop in the cells (the white specks inside the cells), this would lead me to believe Varroa could be the culprit. I had several hives die from Varroa this year, after being weakened by Mosquito Spraying done by the town. I sent the bees in for testing and was surprised by a few of the mite counts which did not seem to match what I had been monitoring. If you want to see how to send in a sample for testing you can read about how to do it here on my bee blog. http://www.beverlybees.com/prepare-samples-bee-disease-diagnosis/ I also have another post on How To Autopsy A Dead Colony which may be helpful. http://www.beverlybees.com/how-to-autopsy-a-honey-bee-colony/

Sorry about your bees!


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## Tony Teolis (Jun 27, 2011)

Anita,

In reference to your results was the USDA count much higher than your expectations? Mine was. 150% or 1.5 mites per bee. That certainly did not match my drop counts but I will be more observant going forward. Tony
http://todolisthome.com


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