I lost Hives
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I'm guessing 4 hives total...noahsbees said:I looked in my hives today and saw that all our hives had died
Do you have anyone to take a look? Are you wanting us to ask questions about possibilities? Or are you just wanting to get this off your shoulders? If you give some details, we might not come up with the correct cause, but we can entertain ourselves on these cold winter days.... :drinks:
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My heart goes out to you. I lost all my hives last winter to starvation, and although it was "only" two, they were important to me.
Mourn them, clean it up in spring, and put your name on a local swarm list. If you can find a reason for their demise (pesticides? you took too much honey? they were just weak, and the winter too long?), you can file that knowledge away for next time and adjust accordingly. Many times there is nothing you could have done... it's just Nature.
Mourn them, clean it up in spring, and put your name on a local swarm list. If you can find a reason for their demise (pesticides? you took too much honey? they were just weak, and the winter too long?), you can file that knowledge away for next time and adjust accordingly. Many times there is nothing you could have done... it's just Nature.
I lost all 3 of my hives, and if you can than please tell me any sollutions that you might have on how it
happened? It might have been the snow? And I have been beekeeping for about 2 years but I am not
that good at it. And all that I saw was the bees in there winter cluster all dead? Any ideas?
Thanks! Tell me if you want me to tell you any more!
noahsbees
happened? It might have been the snow? And I have been beekeeping for about 2 years but I am not
that good at it. And all that I saw was the bees in there winter cluster all dead? Any ideas?
Thanks! Tell me if you want me to tell you any more!
noahsbees
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Please do, there are so many things it could be. Like Bjorn said we can only speculate on the cause...noahsbees said:
Now don't get down on yourself, it happens to everyone, keep the faith!noahsbees said:
I'm moving this post to Beekeeping 101 as its a better fit there...
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With my starved bees, they were many dead on the bottom board, and many still in a cluster, most with heads stuck deep into the empty cells. There was a whole super of honey above them, but they had eaten the honey directly above them, and it was apparently too cold for them to cross that bare area to get to the honey above. My lessons learned: a) Leave more stores, and b) Stop messing with their stores earlier, and let the bees move it to where THEY want it. Putting a full super of honey on top in the late fall was not the great idea I thought it would be. I should have put it on in August or Sept.
It is heart-breaking, but do not blame yourself unduly. Learn what you can, but accept that there are some things over which you have no control. If they starved, maybe you will leave more stores next year. If they have ice/excessive moisture inside, you will want to address the ventilation. If they were just weak, then it's just nature's way of keeping the overall population strong.
Bees die in the wild, too. It's just tougher when we make ourselves responsible for them. Hang in there. The hurt subsides eventually.
It is heart-breaking, but do not blame yourself unduly. Learn what you can, but accept that there are some things over which you have no control. If they starved, maybe you will leave more stores next year. If they have ice/excessive moisture inside, you will want to address the ventilation. If they were just weak, then it's just nature's way of keeping the overall population strong.
Bees die in the wild, too. It's just tougher when we make ourselves responsible for them. Hang in there. The hurt subsides eventually.
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My heart goes out to you - I had 2 hives year before last and lost one of them during the winter and I didn't discover it till this time of the year. I was devastated and I felt bad because I saw that they had starved to death. However I did learn a lot of things and in raising bees I think you just learn so much from your own experiences. I had apparently allowed my strong hive to rob them of their honey because I didn't have the sense enough to reduce the entrance. And I still feel guilty about it.
Keep going - don't blame yourself - get yourself some more bees this spring and situations like this will make you a better beekeeper - I felt that it made me a better beekeeper - yet there is STILL a lot I have to learn. That is why a forum like this one is so VALUABLE to people like me.
Write everything down too - that helps to look back to see what you did earlier.
Keep going - don't blame yourself - get yourself some more bees this spring and situations like this will make you a better beekeeper - I felt that it made me a better beekeeper - yet there is STILL a lot I have to learn. That is why a forum like this one is so VALUABLE to people like me.
Write everything down too - that helps to look back to see what you did earlier.
after 50 years of messin' with the girls loosing a hive is still difficult although figurin' out why is much easier. for most new beekeepers the learning curve is steep and only perseverance will allow you to overcome that steep hill. add to this that beekeeping can be extremely local, so sometime even the advice from old hands will only provide limited direction to the many problems in beekeeping.
if you are at the higher elevations in Virginia then you will need to come to understand that any fall manipulation need to be done early and 'things' that work down in the Piedmont will likely result in failure up towards the Blue Ridge.
Once again it casually sounds like you need to come to some 'better' approach for the fall prep of hives. Sometimes this means checking for t and varroa mites to treat before winter arrives and sometime feeding just a bit to get a goodly group of young bees in the hive before the onset of winter or perhaps the brood nest a little bit more throughly backfilled with nectar (sugar water). The only place I would consider placing pollen patties on a hive in the late fall or winter would likely be California (to prep a hive for the almonds).
The Season (past) can also become a real issue since it is quite common (predictable) that extremely poor years usually result in increased death loss during the winter months.
Hopefully you can learn from your past mistakes and move on....
if you are at the higher elevations in Virginia then you will need to come to understand that any fall manipulation need to be done early and 'things' that work down in the Piedmont will likely result in failure up towards the Blue Ridge.
Once again it casually sounds like you need to come to some 'better' approach for the fall prep of hives. Sometimes this means checking for t and varroa mites to treat before winter arrives and sometime feeding just a bit to get a goodly group of young bees in the hive before the onset of winter or perhaps the brood nest a little bit more throughly backfilled with nectar (sugar water). The only place I would consider placing pollen patties on a hive in the late fall or winter would likely be California (to prep a hive for the almonds).
The Season (past) can also become a real issue since it is quite common (predictable) that extremely poor years usually result in increased death loss during the winter months.
Hopefully you can learn from your past mistakes and move on....
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I always just have to look at it like there is open equipment to catch a new swarm in this spring. Don't let it get you down or you could end up leaving this hobby behind.
I have lost a cow and calf during a hard labor and still had a vet bill to pay on top of that, like my buddy says........"welcome to farming" it is just part of it.
Spring is just around the corner so get ready for a couple of swarms and a cut out or two.
G3
I have lost a cow and calf during a hard labor and still had a vet bill to pay on top of that, like my buddy says........"welcome to farming" it is just part of it.
Spring is just around the corner so get ready for a couple of swarms and a cut out or two.
G3
I would advise getting in touch with a local club immediately (most have at least one meeting a month) and there is probably one near you:
http://www.virginiabeekeepers.org/association_map.htm
These folks will be from your area and you may even find one that will come over and take a look to help you out with a diagnosis and future guidance. Experienced beekeepers from your region are an invaluable resource.
http://www.virginiabeekeepers.org/association_map.htm
These folks will be from your area and you may even find one that will come over and take a look to help you out with a diagnosis and future guidance. Experienced beekeepers from your region are an invaluable resource.
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