Swarm dies in hive entrance
PostPosted:23 May 2020, 21:28
Hi, I’ve been keeping bees for over thirty years, and this is a new one for me! I had an empty hive so set it up with drawn out frames in the hope of attracting a swarm.
On going over today to do my weekly inspection I saw as I approached that there were quite a few bees flying around and so assumed, rightly, as it turned out, that a swarm had moved in.
However, as I got closer I could see that the bees appeared to be using a very small hole they had found at the back of the hive as their entrance and exit, and that immediately in front of hive entrance was a large pile of dead bees. From a distance they looked as though they were a swarm marching in.
As I opened up the hive I realised that the reason the front entrance wasn’t being used was because it was blocked on the inside by a mass of dead bees that covered much of the mesh floor.
There were still enough bees alive to be active over two or three frames, but a considerable proportion - two thirds? - of the swarm seemed to have died either whilst, or just after, entering the hive. There was no evidence that the bees had been there very long - my guess is less than 24 hours. I made a cursory search for the queen, but couldn’t find her, preferring to clear away the dead and give the survivors - assuming she might be in there somewhere - an opportunity, however small, to establish themselves over the next few days.
Had this happened two weeks ago - I inspect this hive every Saturday - I could have put it down to the sudden drop in temperatures we experienced then, with relatively warm, sunny, days being followed by below freezing nights. There would then, I suppose, have been the - albeit slight - possibility of a swarm flying to its new home late in the evening and being caught out by the sudden cold. But even if that were the case, it would seem to be extraordinary that part of the swarm was unable to enter and so died outside.
Any suggestions as to what might have happened, would be very welcome!
On going over today to do my weekly inspection I saw as I approached that there were quite a few bees flying around and so assumed, rightly, as it turned out, that a swarm had moved in.
However, as I got closer I could see that the bees appeared to be using a very small hole they had found at the back of the hive as their entrance and exit, and that immediately in front of hive entrance was a large pile of dead bees. From a distance they looked as though they were a swarm marching in.
As I opened up the hive I realised that the reason the front entrance wasn’t being used was because it was blocked on the inside by a mass of dead bees that covered much of the mesh floor.
There were still enough bees alive to be active over two or three frames, but a considerable proportion - two thirds? - of the swarm seemed to have died either whilst, or just after, entering the hive. There was no evidence that the bees had been there very long - my guess is less than 24 hours. I made a cursory search for the queen, but couldn’t find her, preferring to clear away the dead and give the survivors - assuming she might be in there somewhere - an opportunity, however small, to establish themselves over the next few days.
Had this happened two weeks ago - I inspect this hive every Saturday - I could have put it down to the sudden drop in temperatures we experienced then, with relatively warm, sunny, days being followed by below freezing nights. There would then, I suppose, have been the - albeit slight - possibility of a swarm flying to its new home late in the evening and being caught out by the sudden cold. But even if that were the case, it would seem to be extraordinary that part of the swarm was unable to enter and so died outside.
Any suggestions as to what might have happened, would be very welcome!