I am new to this list and to beekeeping.
I started up 2 hives last spring.  Both did fairly well through the fall.  I
am in Woodstock, NY (upstate 100 miles from NYC) and we had a
very, very cold winter.  My hives were probably in more shade than they
should have been, and sometime during the winter months both hives
died.
I've opened them up for a good look and am puzzled by what I've seen.
In both hives clumps of bees were scattered on the frames, seemingly
frozen in a moment of time.  Many had there heads buried in the cels.
Based on other messages I've read, perhaps they were too cold to
move to other areas of the frame to find honey (which was there).
Many of the bees were also covered in mold.  In fact the second hive is
almost completely covered with mold; on the frames, on the walls, on
the bees, and on the carcasses on the floor.  The mold is white and
bluish.  And yes, the hives were damp.  Snow had seeped in the hives.
So, I have a few questions:
1) should I assume that the bees just died of cold?  I don't see any
other obvious indications of disease (based on what I've read in
books)
2) should I be concerned about the mold?  I plan to scrape the moldy
frames clean (to remove all the dead bee bodies stuck in the cels) if
nothing else.  And of course, put everything out in the sun to dry it out.
3) anything else I need to do before I introduce new colonies to the
hives?
Thanks for anyone with any answers or suggestions.  I also took
some digital pictures of the interior of the hives if that helps.
Lee Hunt

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