Sound to me that your queen failed or was superceeded, and the hive failed to requeen itself. Your hive likely went into winter queenless, or with a poor layer and resulted in a unavoidable death. A hive must go into winter with a good queen and lots of young, and the bees you were seeing were the old dying off while in cluster. You can hive right into that colony next year, it will have lots of resources for your new hive to use. BUT check the equipment for disease first. Ian :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::