If they're not starving, they're swarming.  If it's not bad wintering, it's
acarine.  If it's not AFB, its pesticides.  If it's not varroa, it's the
damn wax moths.  Always something.  Oh boy aint we got fun.
 
Well by now I've found about 10 colonies dead.  So far. I can deal with
that, I guess.  Could have been worse.  Some were a mess with dysentery,
all still with plenty of stores, clusters mostly scattered all through,
crazy; they were in distress from something, likely acarine.  I just load
all the dead hives on the truck and get them home for cleaning up (and do
they ever smell ripe!).  Much of the dysentery, mildew, and masses of dead
bees can be scraped and brushed off, leaving the combs clean enough for new
bees to fix up.  It always amazes me what a new colony will accomplish with
such a mess.
 
 BUT - With the lack of swarms nowadays, I fear I won't have the new bees I
need!
 
So now I have a total of some 25-30 brood boxes, many with lots of sour or
granulated honey, sitting without any bees to take care of them.  Sure,
many will end up being used for housing divisions, but what to do with the
rest?   I don't wish to buy packages (scarce anyway), and I don't have
access to a walk-in freezer.  Still, I dont want to lose all these good
worker combs to moths.  With so many combs containing old pollen and honey,
how can I save this equipment for eventual use?  (Para-dichlorobenzene moth
balls are commonly used with dry super combs in storage, but I don't think
they would be safe in this case (??))   (Help!)             Thanks, JWG