# Dead Hive!



## IslandGirl06 (May 25, 2010)

Did a hive inspection about two weeks ago when the weather was good and the hive had brood, I saw the queen and everything seemed great. At least for March. Flash forward to today and when I opened up the hive, there were barely any bees and a BUNCH of dead ones! I'm worried that someone poisoned them or is this just a case of CCD? However, I never thought that CCD left a bunch of dead bees (and some that looked like they were inside the cells eating honey, but they were dead) I was under the assumption that with CCD the hive would just be 100% vacant which happened to me with one of my other hives this past year.Any advice would be greatly appreciated!


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## rweaver7777 (Oct 17, 2012)

I had this happen year before this past winter. Bees in the hive, had one of our cold cold snaps, then next week they were dead. Hadn't treated for varroa in the fall. I suspect they didn't have the strength to make it in the cold. But I could be wrong.

Also in the spring, a hive can run out of stores during brood-rearing buildup. I haven't seen this myself so I can't speak to what it looks like.


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## IslandGirl06 (May 25, 2010)

I'm wondering if that was the case. Here in North Carolina we had a few warmer days and cold ones. However, it didn't seem to harm them. I know that stores were not a problem as there seemed to be an abundant supply. However, last week after several days in the 60's-70's range it dropped a bit and then the other night got down to 26 degrees. I'm now thinking that as well as the fact that maybe my tinkering with the hive two weeks ago didn't do them any good. When I did my first inspection, my other hive was 100% empty so I moved the other hive over to the old hives location as well as switched the brood boxes around as all the brood seemed to be in the top brood box and I've had issues with early swarming with this hive last year. Either way it really sucks


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## BackYardPhenomena (Jul 11, 2012)

Robbing or Absconding-- this would be my guess. 

I've lost hives to both, but usually due to absconding. Once pests and critters are moving around and there aren't sufficient bees to protect open comb, the will abscond a location if they feel overwhelmed by moths and beetles. I've had hives 4 boxes full abscond because one portion had beetle larvae running in and out of the comb. This is why I tell most new beekeepers that I speak with to reduce the hive as much as possible when their numbers are down and they don't have sufficient brood and numbers to protect the hive.

Good Luck


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

Did they have anything to eat?


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## BeeTech (Mar 19, 2012)

a sudden cold snap in spring can kill off all the blossoms. The incoming supply suddenly drops to zero. If the hive didn' t have lots of stores, they could have gone through what they had and starved surprisingly quick.


Were there any stores left?


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## IslandGirl06 (May 25, 2010)

There actually were some stores left. However, not a lot and if this is the case I'm kicking myself now because I knew better and put off feeding my usual syrup/Honey Bee Healthy mixture. Ugh! But, when I did open the hive today, I did notice more beetles than usual. However, when I did the inspection two weeks prior I didn't notice any!


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