# hive died over the winter



## vtfarma (May 6, 2003)

We have one hive that had snow that got up in front of the opening, I guess, and it did not make it through the winter. It ended up mildewing - the feathery type. What do I need to do? It is full of honey and dead bees. I have noticed some bees from our other hive scooting in there. Or at least I am assuming that is where they can from. If I scrape it and extract the honey will that work and not make us sick? Thanks - Glad to see this up and running!


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## Billy Bob131 (May 11, 2004)

Honey has a shelf life of about 10 years, but I donât know if scraping the mold off is going to be good enough. Some of it may still get into the honey. Honey is antibacterial but I do not think you should test it to see how well it works. You could put the honey in the existing hive and the bees will clean it much better than you can. The only draw back is they may eat all the honeyâ¦faster than you know. Another point to remember, if your hive died of some bee disease then you could spread it to your other hive.

You should get enough honey from your other hive to carry you through the year. I would save the honey/wax comb from the dead out and do a split with the existing hive or you can keep it and feed it back to the existing hive in the fall.

BB


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## zathrus (May 12, 2004)

vtfarma said:


> We have one hive that had snow that got up in front of the opening, I guess, and it did not make it through the winter. It ended up mildewing - the feathery type. What do I need to do?
> 
> Your bees died because they were unable to get the moisture out of thier hive. Even here in Iowa where it gets -40 degrees, bees need ventilation, so always make sure there is a way for air to get in and out of the hive. If snow piled up in front of the hive and blocked the entrance, air could not get in or out.
> 
> It is full of honey and dead bees. I have noticed some bees from our other hive scooting in there. Or at least I am assuming that is where they can from. If I scrape it and extract the honey will that work and not make us sick? Thanks - Glad to see this up and running!


If the honey is capped, it should be fine. Honey has been found in the tombs in Egypt that was still usable, so it has about a 10,000 year shelf life. If it was not capped, it may be spoiled.

Hope this helps!

Sean


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## Billy Bob131 (May 11, 2004)

Not sure if the USDA would go along with the 10,000 year shelf life :haha:

BB


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## vtfarma (May 6, 2003)

Probably not! I can see their little pencil pushing brains going nuts about this one.


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## kosh (Apr 6, 2004)

Here's a thought.

Are any of your other hives strong enough to be split? perhaps you could order a new queen, then split the hive putting some of the brood frames and bees and the new queen in the dead hive. The bees do a super job of cleaning hives. I'm sure they could take care of cleaning the hive and would be glad to have the frames that have already been drawn and the capped honey for food. 

peace,
Jason


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## Medora (Apr 10, 2013)

Egyptians were very advanced in their preserving abilities. I read somewhere (or my tour guide told me) that they found grain in a Egyptian tomb and they were able to get some of it to sprout!


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

:bouncy: The USDA also approves GMO grain along with some other farm pratices:goodjob:

 Al


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