> I recieved the italian bees about a week ago.This consisted of 5
> frames of brood and a laying queen.(yet to be verified).Iwas watching the
> bees come and go when I noticed dead brood being removed from the hive by
> workers.(2 in about 20 mins.)The first was carried off over my neighbors
> house so I didn't get a good look at it,however I took the 2nd dead brood
> away from the worker .upon closer inspection I noticed the head was eaten
> away and the thorax was empty,all entrails removed.
 
There are a number of possibilities here, the most obvious of which would
be starvation.  Damage to the brood while transferring it into the nuc is
another and ant predation is a third that comes to mind.
 
Allen