Saturday, March 19, 2011

The bees are dead or gone

I don't know what happened. They were fine just days ago, coming out in groups for orientation flights, and zooming off for water and early pollen or propolis.

But I did notice their doorway seemed really dirty. They usually keep it pretty clean.
Yesterday the Sergeant wondered why there wasn't much activity, despite the warm weather. Just a very few bees coming and going.

I opened up the window today.
Looks like nobody's home.

We'll open the hive itself in a day or two and see what we can see. It's very sad.

14 comments:

  1. I was reading a farm blog the other day, and her bees were all gone or dead, too. She was able to harvest some honey, though.

    There will be more. You know how to get a swarm--you're the Local Neighborhood Bee Lady. Right?

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  2. That is so sad! Any chance they left in a swarm? A secret swarm...I know nothing about bees, obviously, just that I like them.

    Diana

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  3. i am so sorry, Kitt! is it possible that the queen died and they swarmed out? can it be cleaned and another swarm put in there? what do the bee trouble shooters say?

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  4. Did the queen die? What would happen to them. I've never heard of this.
    How awful!
    I'm so sorry.

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  5. Oh Kitt. My heart sank as I read this. I'm so sorry. I know so little about beekeeping, having only 11 months of it behind me, but I know enough to know how mysterious bees can be to us. Hope you start another colony soon.

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  6. http://books.google.com/books?id=RCNDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA283&lpg=PA283&dq=dwindling+bees&source=bl&ots=ERAQgbR3W7&sig=HHhNVRvse1tU0ppb35tvZFF1iBA&hl=en&ei=W6qGTcD1HoS4tgeErYXZBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDIQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=dwindling%20bees&f=false
    This section from Langstroth's book, on spring dwindling, was interesting. Hope the link works.

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  7. Thanks, everyone. The "dirt" appears to be a sign of dysentery, which could have been caused by any number of factors, most or all of them beyond my control.

    (Thanks, Pam, the link worked.)

    The bees didn't swarm, but died off. We'll clean out the hive (there should be some honey to harvest, anyway) and make some adjustments.

    And now I'm first on my swarm list.

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  8. Hope you get a healthy new swarm soon Kitt it must be so disapointing when you thought you'd got them through the winter

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  9. So sad! you have had that hive for some time, haven't you?

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  10. I saw where you left a comment on a bittman article about octopus from 3 years ago in the NY times....

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  11. So sorry to hear of your your loss! Began following your blog for the bees, though now I'm kind hooked on the dog pictures. Here's hoping you get a new swarm soon.

    Lisa

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  12. Can I be #2 on your swarm list? and kudos on your mention in the Sunset Team Bee Blog!

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  13. Noooooo! I'm sorry, hon :( This makes me incredibly sad. I hope you'll have it repopulated soon. xoxo

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  14. Kitt! I just saw this about the bees. I'm so sorry!

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