Opening the hive

I was advised to open the hive, so I did. There were piles of dead bees. I started removing bars (about a dozen) until I found one with a few bees still vibrating. I scooped out the dead bees on the bottom, so I have a sizable amount for Rachel. After this result, I was further advised to feed them immediately. I haven't had enough time to do that, but I'm getting some sugar and making fondant. Tomorrow afternoon I'll put it in the hive and hope there are still some bees left.

This is how most of the comb looked in the bars I pulled out. The bees are hung on the comb and can be brushed off.


In many sections, towards the top, you see bees in the cells head first. I guess they were getting the last scrap of food.

I carried the bars inside in a larger box. Plenty of bees fell off, but I also noticed some hive beetles. I have to separate the two to see how many hive beetles there are.

I'm going to make some fondant and feed them tomorrow. I just haven't had time yet.

What to do about the dead bees?

Phila Beekeepers Guild has 2 Facebook groups. I posted the following question today:

Now that the snow is gone, I checked the hive, from outside only. I have a TBH with entry on the side (1 inch holes). Bees were piled at the entries. I collected bees on the ground and used a screwdriver to pull bees out of the holes into a box, thinking of Rachel's art work. I got a few hundred all together. Today, I used a flashlight and saw that bodies were piled against the entries. I can think of 3 possibilities: 1) the bees are dying and piling up, 2) the housekeepers are piling the bees the bees against the cold, 3) the housekeepers are not strong enough to push them out. If 1, I open and explore, if 2, I leave it alone, if 3, I pull them out but don't open. This is my first year and first hive so I don't have anything to go on. Any thoughts?

Waiting for answers. The reference to "Rachel" is to a Temple art student who joined the group and asked for a lot of dead bees. She heard about CCD and wants to do an art work illustrating it. Of necessity, it requires a lot of dead bees.

Winter Activity

Temperature 45 degrees. Sun is on the hive. Some of the bees are active, going in and out. They're not finding anything, of course, but apparently this is all it takes to get them moving.

Happy New Year

Here's looking forward to a great 2012, especially for the bees.

The temperature was in the 50's today so I visited the bees briefly. I have seen a few bodies on the little porch. There were three today. I looked closely on the ground and did see some more, maybe 20 altogether. I think that's normal since bees are always dying and the ones still around are fastidious about the hive, so they drag them outside. Some posts in the Beekeepers Guild have mentioned some hives that have died off completely - they will see piles of bees outside the hive; nothing like that here.

I am surprised that some of the keepers will open their hives to have a look when they get a warm day. I have adopted the very cautious philosophy to leave the be until late March. I can live with the suspense and do not want to disturb their carefully constructed defense against the cold. They have everything sealed except the 3 entry holes and going in would break some of those seals.

I'm still thinking about the next hive to put on the back porch and intend to build it over the winter. I mentioned it in the December 11 post. It will be similar to the current hive but the roof will be flat and simpler since it doesn't have to protect against rain. Also, the entry has to be at one end since the hive will jut out from the porch wall; there will be a pipe(s) through the wall for access. I don't know how that works yet. I have to have the hive outside when the bees are installed since it takes a day or so for them to find their way. Then the entrances have to be plugged and the hive carried up to the porch and the pipes set for the entries.