Comments from those who have thoughts on the following would be most
welcome!

At last, hives have been removed from their indoor wintering facility
and moved on to a sheltered area of ground.

Each colony is being quickly looked at by lifting the hive body to an
approx. 45° tilt and observing the number of combs covered by bees.
Once this has been noted, the body is lifted on to a clean floor,
allowing the over wintered one to be removed.
This latter floor is then scraped to remove accumulated debris - the
amount varying from hardly any to a piled of mixed semi decomposed bees,
wax bits, particles of crystallized honey etc.

What follows is a new experience to me :
Several colonies had floors covered by freshly dead bees (presumed so
due to the colouring of the cuticle, absence of other debris
intermingled with bodies, no apparent compaction of the pile) - they
looked as if they had just fallen.
The piles were 2 - 3 cm deep and covered most of the floor area.

So why are these bees there?
Are they just the rest of the over wintered bees that finally came to
their mortal end - a collective die out?
Are they bees that have secumed to a thermal shock? - having been held
in a room at 5°C during the winter, and once out in the "open" again,
they couldn't cope. Temperatures have varied from 6-7°C during daylight
hours, down to -7°C at night.

Food is not absent in the brood box. Flight has taken place, with
defecation liberally performed. Normal staining on the hive, with few
dead bees present in front of the entrances.
Also, those colonies that show this phenomenon have 3-4 frames of bees
remaining in place.

After all my European beekeeping experience, this Canadian happening
suggests again that where you are governs what you see!

Regards,
Peter

Darlingford, Manitoba
49°15' N/ 98°20' W

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