Hello Jerry and Friends,

I thought it was just me.  My bees died spontaneously within the last two or
three weeks.  There are only 2 hives at this one location.  One hive started
having bees die and lay on the landing board.  On closer inspection, I saw
the dieing bees, which were still able to stand up, shivering and standing
on the "tip toes" of their rear legs.  Their thoraxes were contracted, so
the bees all looked small.  I thought maybe that there had been some
spraying in the area and the bees might have foraged on a contaminated
nectar source.  The bees eventually cleaned of the landing board and the
other hive was looking strong. Perhaps they would recover.  A few days
later, the other hive had the entrance choked with dead and dieing bees and
a double handful of bees were on the ground at the entrance.  I've never
seen anything like it.  The second hive was completely dead in 5 days and
the first hive has a fair amount of bees, but no eggs in the cells.  I even
saw some dead hive beetles in the second hive, which made me think it was
some kind of poisoning event.  I dunno.  I'd be interested to see if anyone
else has a similar experience.  I am located in the Tampa Bay area.

Robert J. Bassett

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