i hop-scotch out to the top bar hive this morning before heading into the office. it was drizzly and cold and the ground was mushy. the cloud cover had come right down to the grown. as I leaned over the hay bales near the entrance I saw dead bee bodies on the porch. only three were small; worker bees likely. which makes the others likely to be drones. one body was still white! i found a stick and pushed the bodies around, rolling them over to check their wings. most had deformed wings. their coloring, or lack there of, looked familiar. i had notice similar colors in the grave yard below the entrance in weeks pasted.
so the bees are still fighting off DWV by culling baby bees before or as they hatch and throwing them out of the hive. with the drizzle they would not fly out with the bodies, just leave them on the porch until a dry time and then push them over. i’m still researching option for treatment or other ways to assist the girls. with a forecast of a week of wet weather, I’m focused on food supplies.
Leave a Reply