Is this what killed the hive?

I finally decided to open the hive this weekend. Full of honey, it was. All dead bees though. I couldn't really see anything wrong with the bees. I'm still not sure what got them. But there was mold at the top of the hive. I did read that this is normal and would happen after the bees died. Opinions?

I don't think the mold caused the colony to die. instead, I think the death of the colony caused the mold.

Agreed.

How many dead bees were in the hive? A handful or a couple thousand? Were they in a cluster or down on the bottom board? Could you tell if they had consumed any honey at all?

Did they have good ventilation? Since there is mold (moisture) now it might have been a condensation problem.

You are not alone. I lost a few hives & know of others. Best I can suggest is clean everything up before the wax moths find it. They make a huge mess. Then start over.

I don't think mold killed the hive - like others are saying. They usually keep up with mold pretty well, if healthy.

I lost all my hives this winter.

It is hard to know what exactly happens with dead hives. Sometimes you can see things that give it away - lots of dead bees at the entrace and chewed up wax may indicate robbing by yellow jackets or others bees; the state of brood cells may indicate different types of diseases; and no honey in the hive with no signs of robbing may indicate starvation.

But in reality it always seems more messy. Often I've observed a dead hive having struggled with multiple things - yellow jackets, maybe I saw some small hive beetles, but the bees were dead in a cluster - did they freeze? - all of these are possible. Unless the cause is obvious, it's sometimes really hard to tell, and can honestly be a combination of several factors.

Unless you can readily tell what happened, all you can really do is note what you've seen for later and try again. Better to learn what you can, try again, and compare notes if you continue having issues. Focusing too much on the dead hives can be depressing and, ultimately, fruitless if you can't figure it out.

You're not alone, Elle ...I've been having the similar problems here in Southern New England.
Good news though, this year my bees made it through the winter. Here's what I did to try to improve their odds:

1) my bee supplier recommends treating for mites Spring, Summer & Fall (after honey harvest). Mites can sap the bees strength over the course of the winter, weakening the hive to the point of failure.

2) increase ventilation!  damp + cold = dead bees.  My first year I had my hive buttoned up too tight (I used the smallest opening on entrance reducer), this in turn produced condensation problems. My supplier recommends using the 'medium' opening on the entrance reducer & placing popsicle sticks between topboard and cover to increase airflow.

For me, I think the big problem is condensation. I experimented this year by placing a screened bottom board on one hive, this allows me to regulate the ventilation from below without having to open or disturb the hive. The other hive I used a solid bottom board and put a quilt box on the top to increase air flow. Both methods appear to have resulted in reduced moisture/condensation buildup. A dry hive is a happy hive.

Other observations: in the past I would place a cobble stone on the middle of my cover to keep it from blowing off - THIS IS BAD! ....given enough time, the weight will create a "belly" in the cover. As condensation builds on the underside of top cover, it tends to drip down through opening on the top board and basically ends up raining on the bees. I now place my stones on the edges of the cover (or use bungee straps to secure cover to the bottom board).

Hope this helps.

Apples for all who lost colonies. It might help ease the pain.

Mike Barkley wrote:Agreed.

How many dead bees were in the hive? A handful or a couple thousand? Were they in a cluster or down on the bottom board? Could you tell if they had consumed any honey at all?

Did they have good ventilation? Since there is mold (moisture) now it might have been a condensation problem.

You are not alone. I lost a few hives & know of others. Best I can suggest is clean everything up before the wax moths find it. They make a huge mess. Then start over.

It was a large, well to do hive in the fall. 4 boxes high. There were dead bees here and there. Quite a bit on the bottom but also some that look just frozen in place throughout the frames. Some honey did look consumed. I did have sugar water available when it was warmer.

I'm thinking perhaps it was when we got that huge snow. The hive was buried, along with everything else, in that snow. It was like that for about a week. Ventilation was probably cut off at that point. I should have dug them out......

Bee bodies contain a lot of moisture. I can't remember opening a hive with bee corpses and not seeing mold. Some of it much more extensive than that!

As others have said, the mold came later. The primary cause of loss is most likely varroa.

It's so disappointing to lose a hive of bees. Such good comments, observations, and recommendations in this thread. Thankfully I didn't lose any this winter. I have Russian stock and find they are very hardy, with a"tough bee" attitude to match. They fit my farm well. Just love my bees!

were there any empty 'supers/hive boxes'?

I have read that most bees come from a few breeders and that the weak genetics show-up only a few generations in.

We lost 8 hives all in their 2nd year.

Also there weather pattern here was cold/warm/cold which may have roused the bees earlier