BUCKS COUNTY BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION

Hello,

I opened a friend's hive today to help him check for mites. First year beekeeper. He got 16 lbs of honey out of the super last week and removed it and the excluder. The hive has 2 deep boxes. I assumed his hive was in good shape since he got a lot of honey. The top deep box had 2 frames full and heavy with honey. There were also frames with pollen. But no brood, queen or eggs observed. The comb looks like it has been chewed up. Very few bees. Observed some yellow jackets in the hive and also hive beetles. Lower brood box was similar, chewed up comb also. Very few bees. No queen observed. There were so few bees that I couldn't check for mites. No moths observed. Is it too late to requeen? Why is the wax chewed up? Any suggestions? 

Definitely robbed out.  The bigger questions to ask are “why was the hive was so weak in October so it couldn’t defend itself?”      And what could you  have done better to prevent the event?    
At this point, it’s hard to say whether bees absconded or if they was a “queen” event earlier in September.  This is why we August inspections and remediations are critical for the hive.  This happens (or has happened) to all of us but as we gain experience and understanding of keeping bees you will learn to keep your hives healthy as we go into the fall and winter.     It is very likely this hive would have  failed over the winter anyway.  Take the loss as a lesson.   Its ok we all take losses- we all are trying to be better at reducing those losses.

At this point my best advice is regroup for next year -keep reading/learning, take the intermediate class, come to meetings and talk to members so we all can learn.    

Its a sad lesson but dont give up!

K