What a difference a week makes. I returned from a week long vacation and took a peek at the hives on a clear, sunny but breezy almost 50 degree day. There was no activity at all on either hive. I poked a stick in on the hive that had been previously alive and did not get even one bee to come investigate. There were some scratch markings in the ground at the front and back of the hive. There were also a few dead bees on the ground amidst the scratch marks. As you can see in the picture there were some dead bees by the entrance. The stick did not bring out any debris from the bottom board, which led me to believe that this hive just got too small to survive. Although I was gone for a wee
So, is this hive alive or not? I have been working on the assumption it is because of the bees flying in and out of the top entrance. Now I am pretty sure it is not and this is why. This week I had the opportunity to visit the hives on three occasions at different times of days in slightly different weather conditions. The first day it was 4 pm and although warm enough for bees to fly, they felt it was time to be home. There were a few bees on the other hive, the one that has been strong, but none on this one at all. The next day it was warm - 61 degrees, but very windy. Again, there were lots of bees on the other hive, working like I would expect for this time of year, cleaning out d
