> Date:    Tue, 25 Jun 1996 12:52:26 -0500
> From:    STEVE PHILLIPS <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Brood boxes--all pollen and honey, little brood
>
> When checking my hives yesterday, I noticed that in several of them
> (the strongest hives) virtually all of the combs in the brood box are
> filled with pollen, in the lower boxes, and honey, in the upper boxs.
> There is a little brood near the bottom of the frames in the top box,
> and in burr comb between the frames.
>
 
This description fits to a T the postmortem conditions I found last
year in four populace and seemingly healthy hives that crashed suddenly
in September.  Never had I seen hives packed with so much pollen in the
lower bc and crammed with honey in the upper.  Old timers in my bee club
attributed this to queen loss, without a second thought.  I suspect that
varroa was the culprit, but honestly I don't know for sure.  I took a
75% hit last year (lost 9 of 12) which I attributed to mites/PMS.  I
used Apistan right after Labor Day, but the hives were deadouts by
October 1.
 
Phil mentions "a little brood", so we can assume the queen is still
present.  But based on last year's experience, I'd test for varroa and
handle accordingly based on test results, although frankly I don't know
what 'accordingly' is.  Options include:
 
   I. If Varroa is present, treat NOW, don't delay.
      A. Remove All Honey Supers, ripe or not.
      B. Passive treatment: Use Apistan strips (as directed by
         packaging instructions) and hope for the best
      C. More aggressive treatment:
         1. Extract some of the honey to get empty frames to put
            back in the brood chambers
         2. Balance the honey, pollen and empty frames between
            the two brood chambers
         3. Use Apistan strips (as directed by packaging instructions)
         4. Possibly Requeen?
         5. Split the balanced brood chambers into two hives
            a. Requeen one or both
            b. Start NOW to nurse the separate hives along so they
               will overwinter (feed, medicate, grease patties, Apistan)
   II. If Varroa is NOT present, follow I.C, skipping step 3
 
Now these are OPTIONS from which to choose that I would follow in
upstate New York.  I'm not familiar with bees and conditions in
Kansas(?), so the advice may not be appropriate there.  But the
conditions described sound forebodingly like the conditions I saw last
year prior to total collapse.  I hope this advice is totally off the
mark, but it may prove to be right on the money.
 
Submitted for what it's worth,
Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!