Today’s video is another depiction of what honey bees experience on the throes of death. the way I have the bees set up in the gazebo allows for a view of dead and dying bees. This is unique in that many beekeepers do not have a means to easily see dead and dying bees displaced from their hives.
The pictures above show a varroa mite from hive B and a hive beetle from hive A. Small hive beetles were unnoticed the last time I inspected the hives in late October. However, I did observe a small varroa mite count and I am currently monitoring the drop. I’ll make a note about my observations in later episode if warranted. Currently the count seems very low and no need to worry.
Hive A consists of two deep and one medium body and the colony appears to be clustered in the upper deep. When I check the screened bottom board from underneath the other day there was a large number of dead bees at the bottom. It is cold and may be too cold for any workers to separate from the cluster for dead bee removal.
Hive B consists of three medium bodies and the colony is clustered at the bottom of the lowest body.
Song of the Day – Florence and The Machine – Shake It Out
