KC>From: Keith Cutting <[log in to unmask]>
  >Date:         Mon, 22 Apr 1996 09:06:43 EST
  >Subject:      Package Bee's
  >Organization: Dartmouth College
 
KC>We receintly purchased packaged Bee's from a local bee supply
  >enterprise.  The dealer made a trip south and trucked the packages
  >back.  The packages were purchased queenless.
 
Hello Keith, sorry to hear of your problems.
 
If you have other hives you may be able to save the ones that are
weak by adding frames of hatching brood.
 
Queen less packages are no different then queen less hives. Few people
would buy queen less hives and few people should buy queen less packages.
Yes it works for others, but not all the time, and maybe when it does
it is more a matter of luck then proficiency in keeping bees. I have
sold tons of bulk bees, 20# in a cage, but would never sell small
packages of just bees. It would be better to ship them with queens
that could be removed at arrival for sale to others.
 
  >When the packages arrived the sugar cans were empty.
 
This is not unusual, but sometime indicates that the bees were
hauled over a high mountain, or may have got warm, or the syrup
was too thin or bad. Packages without queens can get very runny and
would consume all the syrup, if it was sour they would have a problem
if held in a new hive without flight for very long.
 
  >All the bees appeared vigourous and strong.  All the
  >packages were hived upon delivery and the queens introduced.  Upon
  >checking for queen release 5 days later we discovered our problem and
  >hence my question.  I should also note that all the queens had been
  >released into  the colony.
 
KC>My problem is that it appears that I am going to lose about 1/3 of
  >the purchased colonys.  On the day we checked the hives for queen
  >release we found the bees in the questionable colonys to be extremely
  >sluggish and or dormant.  A check 2 days later on the suspected hives
  >showed lots of dead bees approx. 90%.  A visual exam for varroa
  >showed a few bees with mites out of the several hundred examined
  >maybe 10 had varroa.
 
Without more information, it sounds like they ran out of food? It is
unusual for bees to die in the hive. Normally the bees would clean
out the dead bees as they died if they could fly. You would find then in
front of the hive on the ground. What kind of weather did you have,
could the bees get out and fly to relieve themselves?  Were the hives
protected from robbing? It could bee that the hives robbed each other
out and the dead bees in the hive was the result of the battle losses.
Was any kind of pesticide used to protect the hives from pests, such as
ants? When bees collapse in the hive, this is not the norm.
 
KC>What should I suspect or pursue in my investigations as to these
  >losses?
 
I would start any investigation with other beekeepers who may have also
received part of the same shipment after I reviewed what I had did
myself that could have caused the loss. If others also also had
problems you may have a better idea of the extent of the problem.
 
I would never say package bee shippers do not ship poor packages, but
more time then not something happens outside the control of the shipper.
I would insist that any feed used in any packages contained Fumidal to
protect the bees in shipment from stress.
 
Because of the different degree of beekeeper experience when I sold
packages they were guaranteed to the edge of my own ranch. Most of
the buyers seemed to know more about using package bees then myself
anyway, as being a bee & queen producer is much different then being a
package beekeeper.
 
Most package shippers are interested in your success with the
bees. I would contact the shipper and inform him of your problem, who
knows he may want to replace all or part of the bees you lost.
 
                      Good Luck,
                           ttul, OLd Drone