OMG Bees Everywhere

I went out first thing this morning to try and take some pictures of the dead out comb. I think I can explain what happened to this hive or at least show in pictures a few theories as they obviously died out with plenty of honey still in the hive.

However within about 2 minutes of my fiddling with the frames the girls from the garden hives had other ideas.

See all those bees down in that comb? Those are all very much alive. They are raiding all the honey left in those combs and there was a significant amount left too. The ball obviously got itself trapped above the brood chamber and starved to death with plenty of honey below them to eat. When it gets really cold the ball will not move down, or so I have read, which means they sometimes starve.

However there are some other issues I will take pictures of when I can get back into those frames. For the time bee-ing what is in that box is the realm of the bees and they are not taking kindly to my messing with them. I could put on my suit and finish the job but I think I will just let them take what they can on such a warm day. Tomorrow is suppose to be cooler once again so I doubt the girls will be flying and I can finish the job.

This is a picture of the pile of dead bodies I pulled out of the hive yesterday. I have read you can leave the dead bees in the hive and when you put new bees in it they will clean it out but I don't do that. For one thing the dead bodies inside the comb begin to decay and rot and will begin molding quite quickly. I remove any comb that has dead bees stuck in them and let me tell you it is a nasty smelly mess and to leave it in there cannot be healthy for the next group of bees in my opinion.

I got squirted with dead bee juice several times yesterday afternoon as I was removing them from the comb they were stuck in. Let me tell you it stinks too. A heavy sweetish kinda smell I have not come across anywhere before. As I said it cannot be good to leave those bee corpses rotting in the cells.

Also this hive died out before any new larva was laid which I think gives a clue as to what happened.

Anyway the ground is still wet and frozen and the bees have taken over my other project so I am going to go hit the shop this afternoon. I just wanted to post a couple of pics. There are literally bees everywhere outside today. On the porch, in the driveway, in the compost pile. Everywhere.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!