So i haven’t been able to figure out the reason completely. It appears to be mites, but it could also be too much moisture in the hive…
Checked on my hive after a few weeks and everyone is gone We will start again here in the spring time and hopefully do a better job with the bees! My question for the experts. I have my brood frames with honey in them and now dead brood. I believe the honey can be used by a new colony next spring, and I know they can clean up all of the dead larvae.
Question is what should i do with the frames now?
should they go in the freezer to kill off any potential mites?
Do they need to stay in the freezer until it is time to put them into the hive or can I take them out after a day or two? I ask because there is presently a bit of surface mold on the frames.
If the comb isn’t straight, should I even allow the frame to go into a new hive or just tear it down to the foundation?
anything else I should be considering and taking into account?
If you have that kind of room in your freezer go ahead and freeze them for the winter. I don’t so I just make sure no mice can get in to the hive, leave some ventilation for the decomposing bee corpses, and repopulate in the Spring.
I’m not Meaning to sound grumpy nor do I mean to offend you but how much did you pay for your Flow hive and your bees and how much are eight new brood frames. You don’t know what killed your bees You don’t usually get brood left behind with Parasitic Mite Syndrome. The colony is usually too knackered to make new bees.
I would burn the frames.
Before you do much more … could you carefully take a few good/clear pix’s of the frames with honey n brood …
It could be mites (maybe) or as Dee referred to as “OTHER” issues. A few very well focused pix’s of the full frames n some clear closer ones might help !!
I’ve lost two hives to a mix of yellow jackets n very late season mite kill. Did you treat , when n with what if you did ?? Also the SSboard slider also helps determine problems n issues… Look at it careful n take full pix as well as a couple closer up. A good magnifier glass helps ID derbies n Bugs !
Did you winterize n how ( this helps know about moisture ). I also live in Puget Sound east of Renton several miles in the foothills.
Wow, Jerry (@Gerald_Nickel)! That second photo of the white slider with mites on it is classic - beautiful demonstration. Twenty-four hours after my last vaporization, I had 8 mites on my slider, I was happy with that. There were 80+ at the end of October.
i will do. sorry for the late reply to you. i’m going to try to get them up tomorrow. (i’m heading out for a hunt in the early am…so it will largely be predicated on that success or failure) the hive i currently moved into my garage
i’m not worried about the frames…more if it is/would be beneficial for the new bees to have numerous frames with honey in them to launch them into their new colony.
We will start again here in the spring time and hopefully do a better job with the bees! My question for the experts. I have my brood frames with honey in them and now dead brood. I believe the honey can be used by a new colony next spring, and I know they can clean up all of the dead larvae.
