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Autopsy of a colony...??

 
pollinator
Posts: 3950
Location: Kent, UK - Zone 8
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I caught a very small swarm a while back and had little hope that they would make it. When I collected them they had been out in the rain and the cold for a week exposed. I was pretty surprised that they then picked up and built comb, had a laying queen and were making progress. I just went away for 10 days and during that time this small but active colony totally died.

  • They left 4 combs of wax
  • There was plenty of capped brood ready to emerge (some dead in the process of emerging)
  • about 6 dead bees visible in the bottom of the hive
  • Some eggs visible in the bottom of cells.
  • All honey stores have been stripped out by my other colonies


  • WHile I have been away I have had reports of a swarm of bees in the area that went into a roof, absconded, went into another roof and absconded again.

    My thoughts are that they have absconded rather than died (my adjacent hive is going gangbusters so I'm not thinking about pesticides).

     
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    pictures?
     
    I agree. Here's the link: https://woodheat.net
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