Mud Season and Musing on Bees

Yesterday we went down to take a peek at the hives. The wind was cold so we didnt want to open it, but one of the hives(on the left) had flies near the entrance. I had been seeing bees going in and out all spring, but the flies I felt were a bad sign. This hive was way less active than the other one, so I have suspected for quite a while the stronger hive was marauding the honey of this hive and those were the bees I was seeing. I didnt expect there to be any bees alive in there, so today we took it apart to examine it.

We found dead bees in this pattern on the quilt...

...in this pattern on the honeycomb, and many on the bottom. It looked like they froze,

but this old come was really suspicious. The bees came from the apiary on this frame. I would never reuse it. Its way to old and dark. I feel they need fresh comb to be healthy.

We also wondered if they were trying to raise a new queen for a while, because there were several of these.

All, musty looking. There was still honey left. Whether they could all get to it is debatable, but some were very near it when they died.

The hive that I assume has been marauding it, for I am not sure how long, is still alive. We are going for strong healthy bees that can survive this climate on their own. It is very hard not to feed them and if we break down and do it, it will be honey anyway, so I am trusting them to use the honey of this dead hive if they need it. I am hoping this hive had no diseases. I did not see any mites which I can theorize was due to the cedar quilt, however, this is all new to me. It may seem harsh, but it is not easy to have these convictions. I want my hives to live. The one that we lost, I did not expect to make it through the winter because it went into the winter weaker than the other.

It is not easy to have access to sugar and not use it. I just strongly believe that it weakens their immune systems. I also have an inherent trust in their intelligence which I value more than my own, for their sake, especially since I know literally very little about beekeeping. I felt that if I tried to combine the hives I could be sacrificing the stronger hive. I feel that the ones that can make it are ones that should make it and will be strong. I do not want to compromise the wild pollinators on this farm. They have been surviving here. It would be a terrible shame to bring disease to them. Obviously I am not trying to have a commercial honey operation here or I might have to make different decisions. My goal is to, through survival of the fittest and a hands off approach to beekeeing, allow a healthy population of honey bees that coexist with wild pollinators. Hopefully we will get some honey too because the rest of the family wants it.

Soon there will be skunk cabbage and maple blossoms. Now we only have a few crocuses and the bees seem to be interested in pine sap-not sure for what-and possibly the honey from the dead hive.