Honey Bee Health Part 1

I brought some of my hives home today that were out on pollination contracts close by our home. These hives have not been opened in 3 or 4 weeks. They were strong and thriving the last time I looked at them. Today was different; there were dead bees on the ground in front of the hive entrance. I asked myself what could be going on, what happened to the health and happiness of this colony of bees.

Lesson learns many years ago, if you take honey from the bees and don’t leave food for them in a time of need then you have to feed them. You have got to feed them a sugar source and also pollen is always good, but use pollen patties in small pieces because of hive beetles. It is the end of August and there isn't much in the line of nectar sources around here this time of year.  

I guess the main thing to remember about colony health this time of year is check the hives supplies of food and check for mites. Last winter we lost 20 plus hive to mites. This was a hard lesson learned. All the colonies had plenty of food supplies but the bees were dead and gone. So check for mites and feed.