dead bees

Let’s Talk About Dead Bees

Like many beekeepers, we’ve lost bees. Finding dead bees is never easy, and there can be many causes. Laura Tyler discusses losing bees.

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Were My Bees Poisoned?

I believe one of my hives was poisoned. There is a pile in front of the hive. This colony was a combination of two weak splits waiting for a queen. (I used the newspaper method to combine them. ) My first impression was that my combination of the two hives had caused the dissonance and the death of the bees in front of the hive. After further investigation, I found that most of the dead bees had tongues hanging out. I realized it might be a pesticide. Now my question is how can I protect the other five hives? None of them had the pile of bees in front.

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Why Did My Bees Die?

Dead bees head-down in cells is a common occurrence, but beekeepers seldom agree about the cause. The most commonly heard theory is that the bees could not find food and died licking the remaining molecules off the bottom of the comb.

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Why are There Dead Bees in Front of the Hive?

There are lots of dead or dying bees in front of the hive. Several hundred per day for the last 2-3 weeks. Some are dead; others are ‘shivering,’ weak, unable to fly, maybe walking a little.

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Dead Bees in a Package: How Many is Too Many?
April 24, 2021 · · Beekeeping 101

I received my package, and 80 to 90% of the bees were dead. I could not tell if the queen bee was there. We tried to remove most of the dead bees. We just put the queen part at the bottom of the brood box.

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Will Spraying Dandelions Harm Bees?

My son is thinking of spraying 2,4-D for the dandelions — how safe is it for the bees? All the bees died this winter.

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Will Wax Moths Come up Into the Hive From the Screened Bottom Board?

Will wax moths come up into the hive from the screened bottom board? I’ve cleaned up some deadouts and would like to leave them set up, the freezing during the winter should have killed eggs or larvae in the comb. I’ve closed off the entrances with window screen.

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Is Moisture Killing My Bees?

As long as they are dry, honey bees are wizards at staying warm. But a moist hive can be a death sentence because evaporation is a cooling process that steals the heat from a bee’s body. Living in a damp hive is like standing in a cold room while dripping wet from a shower.

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Why Do I Have Dead Drones in My Beehive Entrance?
June 12, 2020 · · Ask the Expert

Every now and then someone reports massive numbers of dead drones in spring and early summer. It doesn’t seem right but it happens. One common thread that runs through these reports is several days of rainy or cold weather just prior to finding the dead drones.

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Do My Honey Bees Have Nosema?
April 14, 2020 · · Health & Pests

I was inspecting my hive today for the first time this season and noticed the bees were not very interested in sugar syrup. It made me wonder if they had Nosema. A friend who knows more bee science than I do mentioned it, but I’ve never had it before and don’t really know what to look for.

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