Backyard Apiary

This winter is off to a bad start.

Sadly, I discovered today that two of the three hives in my backyard have failed. One was my strongest hive, Hegemone, going in to winter with nearly two medium boxes full of honey. There were 2-3 dead bees total on the frames, lots of capped brood, no honey stores, lots of pollen, and no signs of major bee die off. It is very odd and very sad. My guess is that the numbers were too high for the early cold weather. The light activity at the entrance that I saw at random times was most likely foragers from other hives.

The other dead hive was my top bar hive. A dozen or so dead bees on the bottom of the hive, no stores, with capped brood and plenty of pollen. The few frames at the entrance of the hive had what appears to be a bacteria/fungal infection that looks like it is eating away the comb. I wasn't confident that the hive would make it through winter, but the rotted wax is unexpected. Due to the infection, the box is most likely headed to a fire pit. I took pictures and bagged a frame or two to pass along to the state inspectors to see if they can shed more light about what it is and what happened. I also bagged sections from hegemone that contained brood.

The third hive in the backyard is strong and feisty. I lifted the outer cover to check for signs of life and they almost immediately took to the air to let me know I wasn't welcome. I refilled their entrance feeder and also gave them another jar above the inner cover to make sure they have access to syrup at all times. Due to the failed sister hives, this hive will be pampered throughout the winter to help ensure it is strong enough to breed queens and make splits next spring.