[log in to unmask]   (Blair Reischer) says in a message dated 96-02-21:
 
>I am (was?) a single hive beekeeper (In Arlington, VA).....and the
>hive died...
 
>Today was the warmest day for two months, so I went to check my bees.
>They are dead, the hive (two brood boxes)  is empty....  Dozens, but
>not hundreds of bee carcasses... which means some left and died
>outside the hive..
 
>[log in to unmask] (Kevin D. Roberts) responds:
 
>Did you treat for Varroa?  If so, how?  Bees die of varroa in very much the
>way you described, leaving behind plenty of honey, and a hive with very few
>dead bees.   (good description of how to check if foulbrood was the cause of
death - deleted):
 
 
    It is always a good idea to do a post mortem on any dead hive.  Kevin has
done a good service by indicating some possible causes.  I would like to add
that varroa is easily diagnosed in a post mortem.  If it was the cause of
death, the mites can likely be seen on the adults, and certainly on the
brood.  I saw one the other day, that apparently was somehow missed in the
Apistan treatments.  The symptoms were exactly as you described, with a tiny
patch of bees covering a half a hand sized patch of brood.  There was plenty
of honey.  The first brood cell I uncapped had a larva and four varroa mites
on it.  At least the mites died with the bees.
 
   Before you knock off the last adults of the cluster, look at them
carefully to see if there are any adhering mites.  The are pinhead sized, and
shiny reddish brown.  You need a good eye and sunlight, but they can be
easily spotted once you know what you are looking for.
 
   Then uncap a few cells of the capped brood.  If the hive died of varroa,
they can easily be seen against the lighter colored brood.
 
   If the hive died of American Foulbrood, you must sterilize it; do not
install fresh bees on the comb.  If it died of varroa, you can use the hive
again without fear, the mites die quickly when they have no bees to live off,
no more than a day or two.  It can't be long, because many of them don't even
drop off the bee.
 
    I would think Virginia is pretty well infected in every area.  Since
varroas ride on drifting drones, you are unlikely NOT to have become
infected, and if you did not treat for the mites, it is the most likely cause
of death.  Be sure to get Apistan strips on, twice a year, when there is no
honey flow. Some older authorities said once a year was enough, and perhaps
it still is in the North, but bees stay brooded up more in the South, and
must be treated, at least twice a year.
 
[log in to unmask]    Dave Green, PO Box 1200, Hemingway, SC  29554