Checking in on the bees

Late spring last year we bought two nucs from two different apiaries. The first nuc was small and the hive it produced was unsuccessful in getting itself established. The second nuc we bought was super strong and healthy. We were able to split the colony into two mid to late summer, but one of the colonies kept having a hard time establishing a Queen for the hive. We even tried to introduce two different queens to get the hive up to speed before cooler weather struck. In order to winterize the hives we added some foam caps to the roof for heat retention and provided sugar patties in order to supplement their honey supply over the winter. From then on, we were hands off with the hives and saw some activity when the temp would rise to flying temperatures for the bees. These days were few and far between, but we saw what we thought was activity in both hives each time.

Fast forward two months and the weather is beginning to be more spring like in temperament. Klint decided he would check on the hives and re-up their sugar patties to ensure they are good for the rest of the winter. Opening up one of the hives, we were sad to see piles of dead bees and what looks to be mold inside the hive and on the frames. The other hive looked to be doing just fine though. We had read that the first year you can expect to lose 50% but the reality of that hit hard after seeing all the devastation the mold had caused in the one hive. We aren’t completely sure just what to do with the hive boxes and frames that had mold, but we are thinking may need to be discarded.