Here’s another chance to help a fellow beekeeper. Chris, a first-year beekeeper in Georgia, lost one of his two hives back in February. In order to figure out what went wrong, Chris did a detailed postmortem and recorded his notes for you to review. I already gave Chris several ideas of my own, but both of […] Read more
Here’s a question and photo sent to me by Todd Eaton. Dead bees in the snow are a common concern and I welcome any ideas that we can pass on to Todd and others who are worried about the accumulation of dead bees in winter. I have never been so worried about the bees. It’s […] Read more
It was warm and sunny today. This is certainly not any kind of February I remember—usually it’s one of our coldest months and one of the wettest. My little patch of lamb’s ears, which I bought specifically for wool carder bees, was loaded with honey bees—several dozen at a time. They were eagerly lapping up […] Read more
Many of you have wondered how the colony hanging in a tree in Maupin, Oregon is doing. Well, here is some good news: I just received word that on sunny days when the temperature rises into the 60s, the bees are very busy. They have lined their entrance with propolis and are bringing in fresh […] Read more
So many responses! And theories galore—everything from tracheal mites to alien abduction. I promised to give my own opinion on the cause of death, but please remember that there is a lot of experience reflected in the posted answers. My own opinion is just that, so you should not discount what others have to say. Several […] Read more
Here’s an exercise for all you hive detectives out there. Beekeeper Aaron Althouse from here in the Pacific Northwest recently lost one of his two hives. He performed a postmortem, took many photos, and wrote an analysis, all of which is posted below. Your task is to see if you agree with his conclusions or […] Read more
My husband came home yesterday and said the local postmaster was looking for me. It seems that one of his customers just lost seven out of nine hives and wants someone to explain why. Apparently he is a new beekeeper who took over the colonies from an elderly man and neither of them know why […] Read more