Mailing list for the Person County Beekeepers Association, Roxboro, NC

[Danielle Hayward <fdhayward1 AT yahoo.com>]

HI Folks

I was working in the yard this afternoon and as I passed by my hives on the way to dump some leaves I noticed one of my bees dragging what I assumed was a dead bee out the hive entrance. A short time later I noticed a small clump outside on the front face of my hive stand. When I stopped for a closer look I noticed that It was the queen and she appeared to be dead with her wings fully extended at her sides. I left them alone but when I noticed that the group had dispersed about an hour later I decided to approach the hive and take a look. By this time she was laying on the ground in front of the hive and is definitely dead. The last time I was in the Hive was April 1st which was 5 days after I had installed the packages. At that time she had left the queen cage and was in the middle of a middle frame and seemed to be doing fine. What should I do now? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Frank