Hive died CCD a month ago

So about 1 month ago I went to my hive and the only bees that were alive were the queen and 5 or 6 workers. After doing research it looks like it was CCD. My family and I were completely heartbroken. Is there something that I did wrong? I am completely devistated! I was doing research and looks like it will hit a hive for no reason. I just hope it wasn’t my fault… all this being said what do I do with the frames? There are about 20 frames full of honey. Is this safe to leave until spring when I get a new package of bees? Or should I get new frames and all? Is the honey in the hive good to harvest or should I just throw it away? Please let me know if I did something to cause this to happen. Thank you for all the help.

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Hi Joe, I am so sorry for your loss. Varroa has been really bad for us this year. We usually do 2 treatments per year, but this year we had to do about 4+ (2 extended treatments). Did you do any mite counts? The commonest cause of late season/overwinter loss is Varroa, followed by condensation in colder climates.

https://beeinformed.org/2016/03/08/why-did-my-honey-bees-die/

https://beeinformed.org/2018/09/26/the-signs-of-mite-damage-how-to-identify-progressed-varroosis/

I hope you try again next year. Bees need experienced beekeepers. :blush:

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Joe, that’s really sad…hive loss is pretty much a given with varroa all around. I think your honey is fine though, unless you used a chemical pest treatment after it was stored. You could keep some for yourself and use other frames to help boost new colonies in spring. Just freeze the whole frames first for 48 hours. You can leave them in there until spring if you’re going to give any to new colonies.

Check out what Dawn posted and use the winter down time to study up and plan your past management strategy for next year. I highly recommend having more than one hive - you’ll learn more, faster & have back up brood & stores if a colony starts to falter, not to mention hedging against losses.

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Hi Joe,
Sorry to hear about your hive.
Can you send off some samples for testing in your area? (pests and disease testing)
It would be good to see if it was a disease that occurred. Or did your bees just fly off?

You can freeze the frames of honey if you like until your test results come back. If the tests come back okay you could harvest the honey or put them back in your hive in Spring.

Do you have any photos of your hive?