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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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  • From: Cole Rizki <colerizki AT gmail.com>
  • To: "ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org" <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [ocba] problem hive troubleshooting
  • Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2015 23:33:39 -0400

Hi all,

I'm a second year beekeeper (located in Durham), I cannot figure out what is going on with my hive right now and could use some help trouble shooting. If anyone would like to come out and do an inspection with me, I would very much appreciate it. 

Here are the details (and I've attached some pictures): 

I have two hives total. The problem hive is a split from a package that I installed this spring and it currently consists of two deeps (one full of honey and one with mostly brood) as well as a medium that I threw on last week. The bees in my problem hive are behaving quite angrily and will not let me get through an inspection, so I know that something is likely very wrong. 

My problem hive re-queened on its own and was doing just fine until a few weeks ago. I recently had to move, so I moved both of my hives with me. After the move, one of my hives was and continues to be fine, but this hive became quite cranky. 

I tried to do a hive inspection on my own about a week and a half ago on my problem hive, but couldn't even get into the bottom deep: as soon as I started trying to manipulate frames, I had bees pinging off my veil left and right and clearly very agitated. I gloved up and managed to pop a frame. In watching the bees on the frame, I noticed immediately that their movement was extremely erratic and they were clearly agitated, so I decided to call my inspection and close up the hive. 

I called in a friend to do another inspection with me two days ago. We finally got into the brood chamber, but found some pretty wonky laying patterns as well as some odd raised comb that was neither drone comb nor supercedure cells (see attached photo). I was able to find the queen, but the bees were really balled around her in a way that I haven't seen before with the five other hives that I've had in the past two seasons. This hive is also producing a very red, thick and gummy propolis that seems off to me. 

I thought maybe the bees were crabby because they were out of space or honey bound, so I threw on a medium about a week or so ago. I haven't treated for mites yet this season, but at the last shake, there were none in this hive. Also, I was looking very closely for any deformed wings or other signs of pests (hive beetles, wax moths, etc.) but see none. There also wasn't any robbing to my knowledge (no dead bees in front of or behind the hive). It doesn't appear that any animals are bothering them (no dead bees with missing heads near the hive). The bees have an entire deep full of honey/sugar water, so they can't be hungry. All this to say that I cannot for the life of me figure out what's making them so cranky, but something is definitely wrong with the bees' behavior and the hive. 

What could be the issue? Would anyone who is more experienced than me be willing to come out and have a look with me to help me troubleshoot this weekend? Thank you in advance for any help or ideas you may have; I have always learned so much from and appreciate reading the listserv. 

Looking forward to your input,
Cole

Attachment: Spotty laying pattern.JPG
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Attachment: Strange comb.JPG
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Attachment: Agitated Bees.JPG
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Attachment: Propolis.JPG
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