8/12/2023
Between the two weeks of very high temperatures followed by what seemed two weeks of monsoonal like rain, it has been hard to check up on the bees.
Last week between storms, we went down to the apiary to observe bee activity from the three hives. The hives that contain the swarms we trapped seemed to be normal, but the Sunshine had very little activity. So little, that I went ahead and opened it without putting on any protective gear.
Upon inspection, it seemed that the colony had swarmed. All of the frames were empty – meaning the bees took the honey with them. There were a few dozen left acting like they were caring for larva. This activity made me think there might be a virgin queen out on her mating flight. So, we gave them some sugar water and closed up the hive after removing five frames.
I removed the frames because of the possibility of wax moths. Wax moths aren’t a problem for a strong colony, but can quickly take over a weak one. Even though there were no signs of an infestation. the frames were placed in the freezer.
I thought there might be bees in the Howard County trap. So the plan was to merge the bees in the Sunshine hive with the ones in the trap.
As it turns out, upon inspection, the Howard County trap was empty. It would have been a good plan.
This afternoon, we went to the apiary to check on the Sunshine hive. It was empty. The official term is absconded. The truth of the matter, I would rather have the loss now and not try to keep a weak colony alive during the winter. So, we took the rest of the frames and placed them in the freezer after removing the first bunch.
According to this website “absconding can happen any time of year, triggered by things such as lack of food, frequent disturbance, loud noises, overheating, bad odors, parasites, predators, or the presence of chemicals.” This has been a very dry season, so I suspect there wasn’t a good nectar flow. We tried to give them sugar water as a supplement, but they quit taking it.
Enough bad news.
The good news
We checked the other two hives and they have a strong population. Both have bees active on 10 frames out of a possible 20. I didn’t think they would get that far this year, but they did.
Last modified:
Leave a Reply