I have two hives. One was very healthy all last year and produced a lot of honey. The other hive was significantly weaker and yielded no harvest. It is now winter here in Kansas City and it has been quite cold for several weeks. However, the last few days have been unseasonable and in the 60s Fahrenheit. I used the opportunity to do a quick inspection. The strong hive had bees flying around and looked amazing inside. I opened the weak hive and it was dead. In fact, there were very few bees inside. There was plenty of honey, but also some very slimy and wet frames. There was also a cluster of dead grubs/worms. The hive looked absolutely awful. Here are pictures. Any opinions on what happened?
If it smells bad (fermented, rotting) it will be small hive beetles. They take over weak hives very quickly. The hive may have been weak in late fall from varroa. Did you do mite counts and treatments?
So sorry for your loss, but I am happy that one hive is thriving. You may be able to split it into the other hive later in the spring. You will need to get rid of the slimy comb. You can save the frames, but personally I just make new ones. Then rinse out the inside of the boxes with a hose, let it all dry out and it is ready for a new colony.
There was no foul smell, but many small hive beetles. I disposed of all of the frames and cleaned the deep brood boxes. Can I reuse the deep boxes or should I dispose of them too and start anew?
You can reuse the deeps, just rinse them out on the inside with a hose