# My bees died this winter cant get them out of comb?



## thorsgurl75

My bees died this winter, was a mess to clean up tons of dead moldy bees.It stunk like dead thing not overly bad but still not pleasant.I could not get all the dead bees out of the cells.Do I need to? Or will the new bees clean them out?Nothing like moving in with dead previous owners still there. Also my comb seems really dark is that normal.


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## thequeensblessing

If you're sure it was winter-killed then yes, the new bees will clean up the hive. You don't have to worry about anything. The question I'm concerned with is your brood. If the brood is black and slimy or stringy, and smells really bad, I'd be cautious about introducing new bees to that hive. Have you pulled out any of the brood to look at it?
Was the mold just under where the bees were congregated or is there mold throughout the hive? Mold throughout the hive means you have too much moisture in your hive, which would lead to the winter kill. If it's just where bees were congregated, it's something else entirely.


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## Maverick_mg

If there in the comb head first with butts sticking out then they didn't have enough honey for the winter. My first hive lost track of their honey when they came down from the top box to the bottom box and they starved. But yeah new bees will take out the dead ones. Dark combs are fine. Also how did you winterize your hive? Do you get snow where you live?


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## thorsgurl75

I live in northern MN. I had one weak hive that I was not surprised to see they didn't make it.The other one was alive 5 weeks ago. I realise my mistakes and yes they are butt out they starved(I left them all their honey this year the cluster was huge)..poor girls.And ventilation was poor the cluster was not moldy just old dead bees in the bottom box.The other weird thing is I saw no sealed brood(afb was my first thought).But being new i didn't fortify the foundation in my bottom box and they had folded it all over and glued it together.I believe that effected ventilation.
I guess maybe I wasn't prepared for the carnage.


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## Maverick_mg

your hive sounds a lot like my first one did. I had no one real close to me who had bees so I packed up my hive and drove 2 hours to the old guy I got my bees from to show him first hand what was wrong. It turned out it wasn't as bad as I thought. I had a few frames that sagged from the top and a few that fell over and touched the frame next to it and stuck. He helped me cut free the ones that touched and we cut the comb back so it would fit back in the box and we replaced the frames that sagged with new foundation. My problem with the ones that sagged were because I didn't use enough foundation clips, I had only used what came with the hive, and he says they don't send you enough when you buy the hive so you have to buy more clips from them. He said not to buy more but to use hair pins for clips and it works fine. The foundation can now hold the weight of the extra comb, brood or honey that the bees build on it.


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## Ernie

When you say it stinks, it makes me worry about foulbrood. When I've had hives starve out over the winter (every winter) they smell musty but not really like something dead. I've never had a foulbrood hive, but it's been described to me like someone dropped a week old roadkilled possum in the hive. They say once you've smelled it you'll never forget.

Also the dark comb might be a problem, depending upon its age. If it's a very old hive then it's probably nothing to be concerned with, but if it was a newer hive then you may have had a problem with the bee version of dysentery. Might want to treat any remaining hives with a preventative dose of whatever you're using for that.


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## thorsgurl75

I don't really know what to think...I medicated for nosoma this fall. I am one of those really smell sensitive people..I didn't make me gage or anything and im sure a week old possum would...lol.It was new comb just drawn out this year not all of it was dark just a few of the main ones.No brood to do the ropey stick test with for fb.Didn't notice spotting in or on my hive.....like they had the poops.They were crapping on my black car right up until they died and that looked fine...LOL.
Also i cleaned them all out and set them back up outside to air out till the new bees arrive in a month...is that ok will anything bother them?


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## Michael Bush

Dead bees stink. Foulbrood is seldom an issue in the winter.


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## Callieslamb

We didn't have that cold of a winter this year - at least, I didn't think so, but I have a warm coat. It was almost 60 degrees today. I hoped to see them out and about. so I peeked inside and saw dead bees everywhere. I left them 2 supers of honey! They were right below plenty of honey. I noticed that some of the honey was dripping down inside the frames. Not sure what that was about. I am going to take the hives apart tomorrow and see if I had a problem with ventilation also. What else should I look for to tell what happened?


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## Maverick_mg

The bee keeper who has been teaching me said that the hive I had die, had lost track of their honey. They start out the winter in the top box and work their way down to the lower ones. When they left the top box, they went from the middle of the box and headed right leaving the whole left side untouched. They hit the wall, stopped and starved. You can tell because some will be in the comb head first and the comb in those frames will be void of honey


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## foxtrapper

Mmmhmm. All the colonies I've had starve to death were full of honey. They just wouldn't go to it. 

Interesting pink papers on the dumbing down of American bees. Never been sure how to take it, but it certainly seems like bees in the past decade or so are not as skilled at clustering or getting to the honey in the hive as they used to be.


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## alleyyooper

Bees normally start the winter in the bottom box in a cluster. They will work straight up as the winter goes.
I too believe after talking to some old timers who have had bees for nearly half a century the bees of today are dumb.
Seems according to the old timers bees of yester year would move honey where they needed it when a warm spell arrived during the winter even if for a couple of days. They just don't seem to do that today.

Some times if the cluster is small they freeze to death. It will look just like starvation.

Ventlation is very very important here in Michigan because we have such high humidity all year long and winter is no exception. A lot of the old timers still to this day even with screened bottom boards will place a empty deep on top of the inter cover. They then fill that deep with flakes of straw from a bale or even leaves to asorb that moisture. One old fellow I knew made bags filled with cedar chps he placed above the bees right on the top bars.

Just install the new bees in the drawn comb and they will clean it up like nothing ever happened there. To get the most dead bees out of the cells I will turn the frams so the dead bees are down and lightly tap it so the dead bees are jared out of the frames. Have though about useing low powered shop vac but never have.

 Al


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## foxtrapper

I've had a few start off the winter at the bottom, but most seem determined to start at the top, and usually on the lee side away from the wind.

Warm days seem to really do them in. Instead of re-clustering into a single cohesive ball, they will make a bunch of mini clusters throughout the hive box. Those mini clusters are too small to stay warm, so the colony dies.

Never thought of using some sort of dehumidifier on the top. Like that idea, think I'll try it next year. I've been using the open screen board through the winter myself. Not sure that it helps, but I've seen no evidence of it doing any harm.


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## thorsgurl75

Al, My husband had the shop vac idea also may try it.I did 
whack them on a board to get most out.There was no honey left it was a huge cluster...To big.
Michael, Thanks I just wanted to hear someone say dead bees stink.


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