I am a hobby beekeeper in New York's mid-Hudson Valley. Going into the
winter I had 2 hives that appeared to be in good shape. They did not,
however, make it through the winter. This is what I found when I opened the
2 dead hives:
. There were no live bees and few dead bees.
. The dead bees that were left, aside from a few scattered dead
bees, consisted of several small groups of bees arranged in a donut shape
around a donut hole of uncapped empty comb of 1" to 2" in diameter, the
donut ring itself being some 3 to 4 bees from inside to outside and a few
bees high.
. There were substantial stores of capped as well as uncapped honey.
. In addition, there were patches of uncapped comb with cells about
half-full of a white substance I cannot identify.
A glutton for punishment, I ordered two packages from Weaver which I
installed just a few days ago and which, knock on wood, seem to be doing
well so far. I used other hive bodies and frames, some built-out to a
greater or lesser degree, that I had in storage. I was afraid to use the
bodies and comb from the dead hives even though they had substantial honey
stores for fear they might be toxic or infected. I am in a rural area but
the nearest farm to the best of my knowledge is a dairy farm some 6 or 7
miles away and I am not aware (which doesn't mean it couldn't be) of any
insecticide use of significance in the area (don't use them in my own
garden, don't know about others').
Does anyone have an idea what this might be, or is it just another
mysterious CCD? Does anyone have any thoughts on whether my fears are
justified? I apologize if these particular symptoms have been vetted
before, I have been off the list for some time (computer crash, etc.).
Jeffrey S. Tallackson
Attorney at Law
1060 New Forge Road II
Ancram, NY 12502
(518) 851-7212
(518) 567-9507 Cell
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