4 years, All hives dead

[FlexMedia.tv]

Year 5 has to be the lucky year were either of my hives make it through this Michigan winter. I started this hobby 5 years ago and I have never had a hive make it through the winter. But I'm not giving up! Not even with my new challenge. 30 years protecting my fair State of Michigan working in Flint, a city that has been in the top 10 most violent cities in America, no problem. Retire from that and get diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma cancer. A painful cancer that attacks the bone marrow. Darn it!!!  Anyway, 2 months and I can finally lift a super off my hives. No big deal but I'm ready for some help to get my 2 hives through this winter!

Let me try to recap if I can remember the suggestions I have tried from this forum..
Every year all of my hives have swarmed no matter what I have done. Queen excluders, adding supers, feed no feed etc.
I have fed with sugar solution early and fondant in the winter.
One year I fed pollen over the winter until somebody told me that would not work.
Every year I lose a weak hive to wax moths.
I caught one swarm and it lasted a little while but I used black plastic frames and they did not like that.
I combined a rather good hive that swarmed with no sign of a queen and combined it with a weak have and it froze.
I wrap my hives here in Michigan except the first year but I think they died and froze before they can form a ball.
I have replaced one queen after a swarm with no sign of a queen and they did not kill her immediately but I don't know if she is still there. I'll check soon.
I have tried Carolina and Italian bees from a local club and mail order.

I have these two hives left and they are doing much better than any of the hives I have ever had at this time of the year...

My yellow hive currently has a breed box, a super that holds most of the bees and honey on the cold day I was strong enough to check, and another super with a few bees and a few frames of very sparse honey and blank frames.
I feed this one with thick syrup and one of those patties.
I looked at these 5 days ago and these are the meanest bees I have ever seen in my life! I smoked them and swarmed me!
This is the hive that swarmed and I replaced the queen and they were doing great! I couldn't get to the brood box but I think she's still there.
Maybe the queen is gone that's why they are so mean.

My purple hive currently has a breed box, super that holds most of the bees and honey I think and another super that has some frames with honey.
I always leave the honey in all the hives I have had because I hope they feed over the winter.
I feed this hive too.
This time I took one frame for 2 cups of honey. Hey!! I can't be a 5 year bee keeper and never have honey! <grin!>
They let me take that frame and take the honey without a problem.  Nicest bees I've ever met.
This is the hive that swarmed and went too high in the tree and I couldn't get them but I watched them swarm away after that.
I also watched the yellow hive swarm high in the tree then swarm to the leg of the purple then take over the hive. I watched that with my eyes too!
This area I thought was perfect for bees. Right by the water. Apple trees about 3 miles away. Even goldenrod in the Fall. It may not be the best area.
I have friends who are new beekeepers who are doing pretty good about 50 minutes away from me.

I'm going to keep at it for sure! I'm well enough to pick things up now so I plan to look at them next week. Thanks for all the hints throughout the years. Sorry for the large opening paragraph. I hope you will keep giving me some hints to make it through the Winter. I'll try to send some pictures.

Art

[cao]

First, sorry to hear about the cancer .  I hope that you are doing better.

It sounds like they do have some honey.  Is it enough for your area?  If not, I would add some sugar bricks or fondant.  Another thing you might consider is insulation.  I put a piece of foam insulation between inner and outer covers to prevent any condensation from forming above the cluster during the winter.   I don't do any major hive manipulations this time of year.  The bees should have the hive the way they want it by now.   

[FlexMedia.tv]

First, sorry to hear about the cancer .  I hope that you are doing better.

It sounds like they do have some honey.  Is it enough for your area? 

Thanks Cao,
I think they have enough. More than they ever had for sure. All the other years there have just been one brood box and a super with bees and honey frames and some pollen cells. I haven't tried the foam board method yet. I made homemade wraps out of tar paper the years I did cover them. I have more fondant to try this year.

That's a good note that they pretty much have the hive the way they want it. That's encouraging since they do look better than ever before!

Regards,
Art

[FlexMedia.tv]

Here's a pic in July where the yellow hive next to this purple hive swarmed and then took over the purple hive.


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[blackforest beekeeper]

what did you do against the Varroa-mite?

Sorry to hear about your health-condition. Head up as far as it will go.

[FlexMedia.tv]

what did you do against the Varroa-mite?

Sorry to hear about your health-condition. Head up as far as it will go.

Blackforest,
Thank you! Nobody plans for cancer for sure, but I'm hold my head up really high! The hive that had the Varroa-mites lost their queen and died. I bought all kinds of chemicals to try on the hive but I didn't get a chance. This year, neither hive has the mites but I still have the chemicals to use if they do. I have never used chemicals before. I did use B vitamins in the sugar water on both hives this year.

Art

[blackforest beekeeper]

Art, they all have the mites. You didn`t look close enough and I`ll bet my left shoe that`s what has killed Your hives the last years. If you actually SEE mites on the bees and comb, they have had it.
If your mite-situation is like mine this year, maybe you have some bees left in spring. probably not, from what it sounds like and the experiences of the last years.
I don`t know what can be done so late in the season. i understand: winter is about to set on you?
I don`t know about chemicals. Somebody here might be able to give you advice on this.
I`d try OAV if there was any chance left. maybe remove all brood before. but maybe chemicals is better in this case. don`t know.

[beepro]

Maybe it is the time to get a bone marrow transplant procedure done.  Talk to your doc. to see. I know nothing of this cancer.  Just hope that you can continue to do the things you like to do.  Give plenty of love!

If you like I can give you some pointers in PMs. I will show you some of the proven methods I've used over the 6 seasons. I will give you an outline to follow for the whole year.  I already seen some of the issues in beekeeping from your hives description.  You have missed a few steps during the critical beekeeping seasons.  Every season has its unique bee issue you have to keep track of.  Some need to be corrected so that you will have some bees left in the next Spring.  There are many gentle queens you can pick so no need to settle for the mean queenie.  I say keep her for the broods only to populate your gentle nuc hives.  So many things missing from your beekeeping experience so far.  For me I have to stop the queen rearing process in order to keep my hives under control here.  No more over winter bee worries.   You can do it too!

[FlexMedia.tv]

I don`t know what can be done so late in the season. i understand: winter is about to set on you?

I don't know what can be done either but Winter is right around the corner for me. How many hives do you have and how many have you lost to mites? I can't see any on the bees this time but I still haven't found a way to wear my jewlers glasses under my veil. And with these blurry eyes, that's the only way I can see anything that small. Ha!

Art

[FlexMedia.tv]

Maybe it is the time to get a bone marrow transplant procedure done.  Talk to your doc. to see. I know nothing of this cancer.  Just hope that you can continue to do the things you like to do.  Give plenty of love!
If you like I can give you some pointers in PMs.

beepro,
Thanks! I've had a bone marrow biopsy that and a CAT scan that diagnosed me with cancer. You don't want that bone marrow thing for sure! Yes, please PM me.  I'm open for all suggestions when you have a moment. This is the most difficult hobby I have ever taken up! Doesn't have to be this way I'm sure. This is what I have but haven't used:

Apivar
Oxalic Acid Dihydrate
Harvest Lane Honey, American Foul Brood Test
Mite Away Quick Strips (Formic Acid)

Thanks Much,
Art
 

[blackforest beekeeper]

I don`t know what can be done so late in the season. i understand: winter is about to set on you?

I don't know what can be done either but Winter is right around the corner for me. How many hives do you have and how many have you lost to mites? I can't see any on the bees this time but I still haven't found a way to wear my jewlers glasses under my veil. And with these blurry eyes, that's the only way I can see anything that small. Ha!

Art

Art, last year I have wintered 62 and I lost none to mites. This year I wintered 80 and I will not loose any to the mites, either. There might be losses due to queen-death from now on till brood rearing starts beginning of march. or later on, till queens can be replaced (end of April/beginning of May I would say I can start queen-rearing). If the winter becomes very severe (no cleansing flights) some might die because of unsuitable honey in the combs. But none to mites.
I did loose hives to mites in earlier years of my bee-keeping.

"not looking close enough" - I didn`t mean a better lense for the eye. I mean a board under the screened bottom, a sugar roll or an alcohol wash.
If you actually see mites running free in your colony, they are pretty likely to not make it any more.

find someone in your area, or here in the forum at least of your climate, who can tell you what to do now.

I would probably dig into the hives, remove all capped brood (you might use a fork to just destroy it as it wont be much from you describe), do an OAV a day later and another one the day or two days after. if no brood any more, the better.

Just recently I looked after the only left hive of my uncle, who is failing due to old age. I opened a brood cell and saw about three adult mites on the pupae. Also, I saw mites running free. Most of the bees still looked healthy, a few young ones crippled. I closed everything and killed the hive. There was nothing to be done to that any more.

[blackforest beekeeper]

Maybe it is the time to get a bone marrow transplant procedure done.  Talk to your doc. to see. I know nothing of this cancer.  Just hope that you can continue to do the things you like to do.  Give plenty of love!
If you like I can give you some pointers in PMs.

beepro,
Thanks! I've had a bone marrow biopsy that and a CAT scan that diagnosed me with cancer. You don't want that bone marrow thing for sure! Yes, please PM me.  I'm open for all suggestions when you have a moment. This is the most difficult hobby I have ever taken up! Doesn't have to be this way I'm sure. This is what I have but haven't used:

Apivar
Oxalic Acid Dihydrate
Harvest Lane Honey, American Foul Brood Test
Mite Away Quick Strips (Formic Acid)

Thanks Much,
Art
 

if your bees are without brood (artificially as described or naturally) and they cluster you might dribble oxalic acid in a 3,5% solution in sugar-water 3:2. give maybe 50 ml in fine drops onto the bees in all spaces between combs. they will distribute it from there on.
but dribbling is hard on the bees. you shouldn?t repeat it. better OAV, somebody around your place will have a gizmo?
for formic acid it sounds too late.
ApiVar...that a thymol-product? forget about it.
beepro is probabyl very knowledgable about bees, but from I read, not your climate and preparing bees for a winter, so.... maybe somebody else in northern US or southern CAN can give you advice.

[TheHoneyPump]

You definitely have some challenges.  I am going to be straight up with you.

First line of advice;  Find the local bee club closest to you.  Get in contact with the group.  Network aggressively and find a mentor pronto.  Someone you can lean on daily.  You have a lot going on there and the beekeeping challenges you have cannot be effectively relayed nor overcome through a forum such as this.  You need direct support.

Second line of advice;  see the first line advice above.

Third line of advice;  once you have a mentor in place and are making sense of bee things;  always be thinking 3 weeks to 1 month ahead of what the bees need and what the bees are going to do.  Your beekeeping actions today are not for today or about today.  Your beekeeping actions made today are for 3 weeks from now.  The problems expressed in your opening post are, simply put, from being behind the bees instead of in front of them.

Fourth line of advice;  to prepare your hives for winter properly so they will survive, see third line and first line of advice above.  In your location you will reduce the hive(s) to two brood boxes and for winter stores the total weight of the hive, all boxes with covers and bottom, must be a minimum 150 pounds, 160 would be better.  Yes, get the hive onto a scale and weight it.  See your mentor for configuring the hive and the amount of adequate insulation or wrap needed for your area.

On the possibility of there being a current mite level problem.  You can sample and count or just go with it and say they are there and treat;  If you are concerned about mites, and you always should be, looking at the list of treatments that you have put up there ... use the ApiVar.  It is the only option you have at this time that will have any effect.  Read the package, follow the instructions.  It will work perfectly, unless the mite load is too high and already too far gone.  The ApiVar will knock out the mites, but the bees may be too far inflicted with virus' that are vectored by the mite. In the case of excessively high load, like BFB, kill the hive before mite and virus' can spread to other hives.  My last line of advice is; I would not follow a single word of advice that beepro sends your way with respect to mite control.  Guidance on other bee subjects maybe, but not mites.

[blackforest beekeeper]

what is ApiVar?
We got something called ApiLifeVar, which is a thymol-joke.

[TheHoneyPump]

what is ApiVar?
We got something called ApiLifeVar, which is a thymol-joke.

ApiVar is a miticide, it is plastic strips that are impregnated with Amitraz.  As the bees walk over and around and under the strips, slight rubbing gets some of the Amitraz on them.  The chemical kills the mites but does not harm the bees, in the small dose that is released by the strip.   It is too late in the season in that locale to use anything else.  Well except oxalic acid vapor, OAV, but I am going on the assumption that the OP does not have a vaporizer and given the person's current condition, it may not be prudent to be exposed to that.

The thymol based products over here are called ApiGuard and ThymoVar.  Any of those as well as anything formic, eg MiteAway, will not work at this time of the season.

Only above listed options that the person has on hand at this time which will make a dent in mite numbers is the ApiVar or OAV.  In this situation, select the ApiVar for ease of use, proven effectiveness, and to avoid the PPE hazards associated with OAV.

[blackforest beekeeper]

Amitraz, I thought so. I never used it (being a certified organic beekeeper I am not even allowed to).
Yes, I agree with THP. Do it NOW.
The mite count at the moment is sort of academic, I would say. But do include that in your beekeeping in the future, please.

Bee-keeping takes a lot more being-up-to-date or rather in-front-of-the-date (THP) than most other animal-keeping. Hamsters are a joke. I have had poultry, sheep, any kind of caged animals and now horses. All those are a lot easier to keep, if one does it as a hobby. High-class riding, producing milk for a living asf. are different again. I usually recommend - as having a heart for bees - to study up on the matter of beekeeping before bees are kept. AT THE VERY LEAST you need an experienced mentor AT HAND if you start with the bees before knowing anything about how to lead them thru the year successfully.

[cao]

With all due respest to blackforest beekeeper and TheHoneyPump, I have followed the posts of FlexMedia.tv since he has joined the forum.  I don't believe that all the problems he has had with his hives will be solved by treating for mites.  I'm not saying that it won't help.  But I would advise that before he treats that he needs to find out IF he needs to treat(some sort of mite count).  I cannot advise anyone on how to treat for mites since I have never treated or for that matter never done a mite count.  I would say that under the circumstances now with his health issue and the fact that winter is close at hand, I would not go tearing into the hives frame by frame looking for mites.  IMO that would do more harm than good at this point. 

Some of us on this forum have been successful with bees without treating for mites.  It is an option for some.  I have done it.

[TheHoneyPump]

Let's not focus on mites to do or not to do or how.  Debate would be fruitless without any actual numbers from sampling or pictures of bees and comb to share.  Anyone wanting to focus on mites will benefit from going to a separate thread here and have a thorough read through, titled:   - Unsure What's Going On In This Hive -

Wrt this thread and the challenges expressed at the opening,   The core content of post #13 (reply #12) above is the most relevant information here.

[FlexMedia.tv]

You definitely have some challenges.  I am going to be straight up with you.

First line of advice;  Find the local bee club closest to you.  Get in contact with the group.  Network aggressively and find a mentor

Hey there!
I do belong to a group at the college and they are very helpful. I have a separate mentor too who has been helping me recently. I just take as much advice that I think applies to me and try to use it. The first few years I was by myself and made tons of mistakes! I will reduce the hives down to a brood and two supers with a feeder and wrap them this year. I'm happy I have bees going this late in the season!

[FlexMedia.tv]

With all due respest to blackforest beekeeper and TheHoneyPump, I have followed the posts of FlexMedia.tv since he has joined the forum.

Some of us on this forum have been successful with bees without treating for mites.  It is an option for some.  I have done it.

Hey there Cao, long time! Thanks for hanging! I do have screened bottom boards and early up I checked the boards and I didn't see any. Few weeks later, I put Vaseline on it and check and found junk but no mites. I haven't checked since so I didn't use any chemical that I bought.

Hope all is well with you!
Art