>
> >Could the death of that colony have been from starvation? Yes.
> >Could it have been from another cause? Yes.


Such as?

Colony winter death forensic signs differ for different agents of death.

With a pesticide kill,  you'd tend to find dead bees all over the bottom
board.  Ditto for Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus.

With a nosema kill, the sick bees will attempt to fly away to die, and a
dead cluster may appear more disorganized.

With a DWV collapse, again, if days get warm enough for flight, the bees
will fly/crawl off to die, and there may be very few dead bees in the hive.

With tracheal mite winter kill, instead of a heads-in cluster, there will
typically be dead bees fallen to the bottom or between the frames.

With starvation, you'll typically see an organized cluster, all bees with
their head in the cells, but no cells of honey within the dead cluster.

The above are off the top of my head, for moderate-winter California
conditions.  Please feel free to add or comment!

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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