Thanks for all your inputs.  Let me add a few more points of clarification.  Part of our problem does seem to be neglect.  The bees are installed, then set on "auto-pilot."  They always seem short of food.  Randy's suggestion of PPB may fit.  
 
Ironically, I have an ob hive in my honey house which is frequently closed off and hauled to farmer's markets and classrooms, and it is given the same neglect/PPB.  But it is doing fine.  And it manages to collect ample nectar.  It does so well it swarms regularly.
 
The donor hives continue to prosper, and unless there is some kind of disease that kicks in when the bees enter the ob hive, or some kind of environmental trigger, I'm pretty sure disease is not a factor.  There are no real differences other than the donor hives are in full sun; the ob hive is inside a shaded window on the North side of the building.
 
I'm still trying to isolate some kind of environmental difference.  I continue to remind the staff that a vertical, one-frame width is quite artificial and heat/ventilation regulation is difficult.  It's also hard to convince them that bees die.  The frequent crashing ob hive raises a lot of questions I can't answer.
 
I'm open to continued discussion,
 
Grant
Jackson, MO


      

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