Question/Concern

[randiv...@gmail.com]

Hello Friends of Bees,

Today I went out to check on my hive because I plan on adding a candy board tomorrow.  I currently have a honey super on top of my two deeps/brood boxes.  In early September I had two honey supers on my hive and removed one.  In that super there were 7 frames that were completely capped and three that were not.  I harvested the honey from the 7 frames and placed the other 3 in my freezer. My thought was to keep them in there and then switch them out with empty frames later in the fall.  I did just that.  I removed drawn out yet empty frames and replaced them with the (thawed) frames from my freezer.  At the same time I treated my hive for mites using "Hopguard."  I have not opened my hive for about 3-4 weeks.

  

When I opened my hive today I was inspecting my super and found that between the frames on both ends....where I switched out my frames from the freezer that there were clusters of dead bees.  Maybe 30-40 bees in each cluster.  I was worried so I was going to remove the super and inspect the lower brood boxes.  When I "cracked" the two boxes apart I heard a loud buzz and had a few of my friends come out to greet me so I opted out of that idea.  Upon inspection of the dead bees some were rather large...drones...?  Seems late for that, though they could have been there for 3-4 weeks? I did use a magnifying glass to check for mites but I realize the mites probably would have moved on by now.

  

My question, in the end, is.....is there any reason I should remove that super?  Could something be wrong with the honey that was previously frozen?  I have also read that leaving a super on only gives the bees more real estate to keep warm.  I have the candy board so I could replace the extra super with that....Any and all comments or ideas would be extremely welcome.  

Thank you in advance for your knowledge and guidance.   Randi

[Drew]

Sounds like a coincidence that these are the same frames that you altered. Being outside frames if the cluster moved up (to feed) a cold night could result in the outside bees freezing especially if the main cluster migrated back down and left them behind. Did the bees have their heads in the cells were the only empty frames the outer ones or the ones you replaced previously; if the inner frames didn't have empty cells or room for bees to get in and cluster it would make sense that the cluster would move down to a box where they could get their heads in and cluster more effectively. If it were me I'd leave the honey on and put the candy board on.

[Joseph Bessetti]

Hi Randi,

I still had a fair number of drones in some of my hives 3-4 weeks ago.  Sometimes the workers will corral them away from the main cluster before evicting them; on a cold night they could die there as you describe, assuming that they are drones. 

There's nothing wrong with the super, and there's nothing wrong with honey that's been frozen (it freezes frequently during winter months btw).  Whether you leave it or remove it depends on how many frames of honey are in the two deeps.  If you have enough honey in the two deeps for the bees to winter on (14-16 frames would be nice) you can remove it, but you don't need to.  If they don't have enough honey in the two deeps, then you should leave it on.  The bees don't heat the entire hive; they only keep the cluster warm.  You could stack 5 supers full of honey on top of the hive and they'd be just fine.

Regards,

Joe

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From: mad...@googlegroups.com <mad...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of randiv...@gmail.com <randiv...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 26, 2016 8:35 PM
To: madbees
Subject: [madbees] Question/Concern

 

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[Paul Zelenski]

I agree with Joe. Leave the honey unless the bees have enough and you want to harvest it. I also had a lot of drones just a couple weeks ago, until the weather changed. 

The only other explanation that I could think of is that if you put the frames in and they were room temp while the rest of the hive was chilly, some bees may have moved to cluster onto them for the warmth. If it then got cold quickly, they could be "trapped" there separated from the main cluster.   

Whatever the explanation, the frames are fine; nothing to worry about. 

[randiv...@gmail.com]

Thank you Joe, Drew, and Paul for your response and advice.  I will follow what you have suggested: leave my super on and add the candy board.  It is very nice to have knowledgable people that give out logical advice.  This is my first hive and I so want these little friends to make it through the winter.  Randi