2016 has not been a good year for my bees. My ‘end-of-year’ hive status saw four bee hives that had activity. Now I have only one.
After being in denial for a few weeks, I figured I’d face up to the fact this Warré was a goner.
Dec. 25, 2015…I had pulled off the empty top box and pinned some protection from rainwater getting in. It was too late.
Feb. 7, 2016…This is the top box. There was plenty of honey on the four outboard bars, but very little in the middle.
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- The two combs in the middle section were mostly empty as can be seen in the photo to the right.
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- The few bees that are left are head-first into the cells. I believe that’s a sign of starvation. There was plenty of honey two frames away. Could it be they were too weak that they couldn’t reach the honey bars?
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- There’s honey on this bar.
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- …and more on this one.
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- Dec. 20, 2015…I assumed that bees entering with pollen indicated a laying queen. Yes, there were some dead bees on the screen, but there were also bees removing them from the hive.
Biting the bullet I figured I’d better find out ALL the bad news…and opened up Bee Beard log hive. Somehow rainfall had gotten inside here too, even with the hat and headband. Because of El Niño, we’ve had copious amounts of rainfall. Yes, it’s good for the forests, but not so good for the bee hives.
2-20-16 I pull off Bee Beard’s hat.
Footnote to above…I’d like to make a waterproof ‘hat’ for this hive. If anyone has a suggestion, please pass it on to me.
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- A look at the quilt box. SOW BUGS…this can’t be good.
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- With the quilt box removed, more sow bugs.
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- With top bars pulled off, honey is visible…lots of it.
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- Some combs are solid with honey.
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- …but these combs are mostly empty.
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- Wow…look at that orange pollen.
So why have these hives died back? Could it be the El Niño effect? Record rainfall in December? Ron lost his hives around December. This year I didn’t cover my hives very well. I should have been more careful.
Another thing that’s been bothering me for awhile is the questionable source of swarms I get from time to time. Where are they coming from? I’m beginning to realize they might be coming from the commercial hives in the cranberry bogs. The commercial hives, I just learned from a cranberry grower, come straight up from the almond orchards in California.
These ‘almond orchard bees’ could be infecting my bees and I DON’T GET any payment.
March 25, 2015…..Less than 3 miles (4.8 km) distance away from my bee hives is the staging area for the commercial cranberry hives. These hives are most likely coming from the almond orchards south of us in California. They were being held here prior to being placed in the cranberry bogs. Arrrrgh! Bog bees…”diseased and loaded with mites.”
My wife suggests I ask Bill W. if he sells any Warré nucs. Bill lives inland about 150 miles (241 km). I tell him of my suspicions of commercial hives. His reply…
“Hello Pat,
I don’t have Warré nucs for sale. I get a lot of “bad” swarms also. These are mostly from poorly kept urban high density colonies having bees from poor commercial sources. I pick up a lot of swarms with poor genetics and failing queens. It has caused me to put out more hives and rely upon higher colony failure.
In the Willamette Valley, many commercial beekeepers will keep their colonies here when not busy with almonds or cranberries or something else.
Good luck. -Bill”
The Grand Kids Log Hive is most likely inhabited by “bog bees.” Maybe I should say “was inhabited,” because it’s been silent for almost two months. I thought it successfully superceded, but I’ve not seen any activity since early January.
After assuming my troubles have come from the cranberry “bog bees,” I asked Steve about his bees. We had gotten a swarm of bees, (most likely they were from cranberry hives) last year, May 30th.
Feb. 17….. Steve sent this photo and said…”My bees are fine, but I fed them 50 lbs of sugar in the fall.” Should I rethink feeding sugar to them?
Then there’s Pete’s beehives. I asked him recently about his bees. He is near cranberry bogs too. “They’re doing great. Out flying every non-rainy day, getting into madrone blossoms and other things, possibly even gorse, bringing back all kinds of pollen.”
Bob (of home-built bee vac fame) said his hives were doing fine too. Bob is located near the bogs too. Hmmm, maybe I can’t blame my bee problems on the bogs.
February 23…the Green hive in the tree is the only active one left. The bees are flying in small numbers on sunny days…even bringing in pollen, but again in small numbers. When our willow tree blossomed, I expected to see bees all over it. I was disappointed. Few bees were seen. Maybe it was the almost constant rain.
Since my tree hive seems to have lasted through everything, I decide to try another one. I’ve got to do some trimming around it, but this will be the location for the next one. It’ll hold Warré sized bars, but it’s too heavy to lug around for a bait hive, so I’ll be trying to attract a swarm.
I’ve got to cut back the laurel hedge limb and holly tree. Then I’ll custom fit the hive box between the trunk and the angled limb. I’ve tried it. I think it’ll work.
Bottom line…I think it was the El Niño rainfall. I chose NOT to cover my Warré bee hives this winter. Why not? I didn’t see other beekeepers cover their hives up. I think the difference this year is my observation window covers are slightly warped (outward) Some rain possibly entered there. With so much more rainfall this year than in other years, it was just too much. Somehow the rain got into Bee Beard Log Hive too. I’ll have to work up some kind of ‘head gear’ to shed water. As for the Grand Kids Log hive? I still have to figure that one out. Maybe it WAS a weak, diseased strain of bees from the commercial hives.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
I don’t want to like this post Pat because it’s such bad news, I hope that a solution is found and a reason suggested as to the true cause.
But you can only look forward in these situations and I’m sure that there is a good year ahead.
All the best.
Thanks for your comments, Eddy. I’ve accepted the fact that I could have done things differently, like protecting the hives from the weather. I don’t want to buy package bees, so I’ll be hanging a swarm bait hive on a ‘bee tree’ in a small town about 30 miles from here. Actually, it’s a tree where I got bees about 4 years ago. I’ll be doing that in the next two weeks. Also I’ll build a three sided winter shelter for some of the Warré hives to protect them from the winter weather. I’m hoping to be able to remove the sides during the summer.
For the log hives, I’ll clean them out, torch the inside to burn out any disease, bait them, and hope for the best. Maybe I’ll get lucky. 🙂
Interesting, that it might be the source of the swarm, or the mingling of bees…
Apparently, in the almond orchards since you have bees from so many different parts of the country, when they visit blossoms they can pick up or leave behind mites and diseases. I don’t know if this is common knowledge or not. I guess I never really thought about it until recently, that the blossoms are where diseases can be spread and mites can ‘hop off’ one bee and hitch a ride on another bee. Pretty creepy when you think about it.
Sorry to hear this, it’s so sad when we do all we can for our bees and they just don’t make it. The Warré cluster sounds quite small from what you say – perhaps there were just too few bees in the end to keep warm enough and move outwards to the honey. It can’t have been an easy winter what with all the El Niño rainfall, you and the bees were unlucky.
Next winter they will be covered up. I’m athinking the moisture was the biggest problem. Hopefully we will be finished with the El Niño effect by then too. Meanwhile we’ve been getting an inch of rain (25mm) a day lately.
Sorry to read about the colony losses. Interesting that you link to poor commercial local colonies back from the almond pollination contracts. Thankfully in the UK we don’t have that level of beekeeping and the problems it creates to the bees. Hope you are back and up to strength very soon.
I probably won’t be up to strength for awhile, but that’s okay. I’m not doing this for the honey. I set up some Mason bees to cover the possible fewer numbers of honeybees pollinating the apple and plum trees. My wife is busy planting bee flowers in anticipation of bright colors and photo opportunities. I’m sure the ‘bog bees’ will be visiting. And YES, be happy you don’t many commercial bee hives migrating through your area.
Sorry to hear about your losses, and I can commiserate. My one and only hive didn’t make it either. And the same thing the year before (I rehived with a new package last year). I’m beginning to think my first couple of years were beginners luck (Langstroth and Warre hives both wintered over and even swarmed). But the rain has been relentless this year (I’m in Seattle area, so also El Nino rains with the wettest winter in Seattle history), and I didn’t do much in the way of winterizing. I’m going to move the beeyard to a more protected area and start again with a new package next month and hope for the best, and see if I can catch a swarm to rehive the Warre. Best wishes to you.
The weird thing about the El Niño is the news agencies kept telling us it wouldn’t even reach Northern California. We figured it was business as usual as we’ve been in a long drought, not as bad as CA for sure, but still with low snow pack in the mountains.
I’m wishing you the best of luck in getting that Warré swarm and thanks for your comments.
Yes, we got that too – all the weather experts were saying that we would have a drier than normal winter. Not! I pulled apart the dead hive this weekend – sad to see the remains of the winter cluster, dead and decaying, and pathetically small. Not a lot of honey in there either, for an early die out (I am pretty sure it was all over by December). It was a weak package from the get-go, though and not really a surprise in the long run.
It is good to read you blogging again although we are saddened by the news.
This post was very hard for me to write. I kept delaying it hoping some miracle would happen, like bees would start showing up again in the hives I had given up on. It didn’t happen. Then when I called some other beekeepers to find out their hives were doing great, it made it even worse. I’m hoping my little hive in the tree keeps going and maybe even throws a swarm that I can capture. It could happen. 🙂
So sorry about the bees. Over here they say that cold does not kill bees but dampness does. They say ventilation is very important to keep the hive dry. So perhaps El Nino is to blame. Who knows with bees but it is sad whatever way. Amelia
El Niño might be to blame, but I should have seen that my hive was leaking, so I’m to blame too. Next year (assuming I get some swarms) I’ll be sure to cover the hives. Meanwhile, I’m building another hive in the tree. Doubled-wall, but with screened vents. That way, the bees can decide if they want to propolise the vents or not. Bottom line…it WILL NOT leak.
Hey Pat, very sorry to hear about your losses. You’re very passionate about your bees though, so I’m confident you’ll turn it around and have some new swarms. I kind of feel bad for the commercial bees though, seems like kind of a rough and rotten way to make it in this world, but I guess little insects only have so much say in the matter. (And sometimes it feels that way for people, too.)
Best of luck,
Mike
Yes, the commercial bees have it rough, getting trucked from Florida to California is probably hard on them. What can I say, I like almonds, so I can’t really blame the almond orchard owners, but it might be a better idea to plant dividers of wild flowers and keep bees all year around. It’s good hearing from you again, Michael.
Good to hear from you, too. Hopefully I’ll be posting again soon (god knows I have enough photos to process). Or better yet shooting! It was a near-snowless winter in Massachusetts this year and I can’t say I missed raking snow off the roof, but…it was strange, mild weather. We might actually get some snow this weekend, and a little relative cold spell, but it’s been like an early spring so far; usually it’s the opposite.
(Btw, almond butter is really good. Bees year around sounds good to me.)
Adding my condolences, Pat. This is sad news.
Best wishes on getting a strong new swarm.
Thanks YP. I’m working towards that goal. It’s still possible that I’ll attract a commercial cranberry hive swarm, but I’m not checking for DNA on them first. I’ll just be happy I got one.
Great post, but so sad to hear about your bees… Another reminder of the challenges of mass commercial transportation of bees for pollination…