In a message dated 4/28/99 6:38:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> This is my second year at and I have a small problem.  I have installed 4
>  packages 2 weeks ago and everything seemed to be ok until today.  I went to
>  feed them and hive 1 & 3 are empty while hives 2 &  4 are buzzin right
>  along.  They are spaced about 30" apart, so I don't think that had anything
>  to do with it.  Any ideas?

    You didn't do anything wrong; the bees just didn't read the instructions.

    If they stayed two weeks, they should have stayed for keeps (so the
manuals say).

    The bees may have absconded, in which case there probably will be brood
in the frames. Or the queens may have failed, in which case they won't have
brood, or only drone brood in the frames. In this case the colony actually
died out, though some of the workers may have drifted to your good hives.

   Another thought comes to mind -- if they are that close, and all are in a
straight line and painted white, like some neat-type people do, the lost
hives may have drifted workers to the others, until the hive could no longer
sustain itself.  Don't line up beehives in rows, and don't paint them all the
same color -- unless you spread them out, so they have clear landmarks to
orient to.  Remember bees can see colors, and it helps them orient.

    If I place them on a long stand, I face every other one in the opposite
direction. Most of them actually are four to a pallet, so two face front and
two face back. I try to never have two the same color adjacent.

    We need more info. Did you install them on foundation?  We presume you
were feeding them?  Did they draw comb? Did they have brood? Healthy brood?
Give us all the observations you can, or find an experienced beekeeper to do
a post mortem......

[log in to unmask]     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
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