Hi Folks,

This one really puzzles me.  I was doing some end of season colony checks and found one that downright shocked me.  The colony was completely dead except for a few stragglers.  I had last checked this colony about 5 or 6 weeks ago when pulling honey.  It was very strong.  I left at least 50 lbs plus anything they had stored in the brood area. We have had a spotty Fall flow but most colonies have brought in a fair amount.  The best way to describe what I saw would be akin to a winter deadout.  There was no honey left, but there are other colonies in the yard so it would have been robbed.  There was at least 5 -6 lbs of dead bees.  The entire bottom board was covered as was the entire inner cover.  They died in pretty much of a cluster covering about 8 frames.  We have had a couple of cool nights that would have caused a cluster to form but nothing prolonged and the bees are flying everyday and still bringing in nectar and pollen (aster).  There is no real sign of disease or anything. There was capped brood that appeared healthy. Quite frankly everything was the way you would like to see it. I had thought maybe pesticide use but it just does not add up to that.  The other three colonies right next to it are fine except one is a little light on stores.  The only other cause I can come up with is starvation but that would have meant going through a fair amount of stored honey during a honey (albeit not a strong) flow.  One other thing is I can not ever remember finding a dead colony with a large amount of dead bees on the inner cover nor ever remember losing a colony this time of year.

Any thoughts?

   Ron
Ron Bogansky
Kutztown, (eastern) PA, USA



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