>>>    ... do see the bees absconding when in distress, more so since SHB. 
Sometimes with a queen, or virgin queen, and sometimes the bees seem to 
just disappear.

I guess my problem with the hive was seeing NO robbing, No infestation of small hive beetles, NO infestation of wax moth after temperatures got high enough for a couple of days for this to take place.  I can envision situations where the entire colony might abscond.  What I can't see is what I've observed happening (really not happening) after the hive was vacated.  There were a LOT of stores, both honey and packed pollen, available for robbing and infestation yet there was no sign of this happening at all.

Mike in LA

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