Not surprising, but still sad

Well, yesterday was warm enough for flying bees. I had a busy day, so I didn't have time to drive 23 miles each way to check my hives. So, I called the guy who owns the property where they are. He is a very nice guy, and the hives are right near his house. He walked over to look to see if any bees were flying. Unfortunately, they were not. He had listened to the long hive earlier and not heard any buzzing, and he has good ears. He did hear them when we first moved them. So, this picture is my hopeful dream once again. I have two nucs on order. I will probably put them in the two long hives and bring all my vertical equipment home to store for this season. What happened? Well, I could blame the hard winter, but I know they probably were too stressed and didn't have a large enough colony or stores to survive the winter. I am hoping this new location will be a good one for me. I feel like a beekeeping failure. If this location does turn things around, it will prove to me anyway the importance of keeping hive density low so the bees have adequate forage. I will probably go check them later this week and try to figure out when they died, and take down the vertical hives and bring the equipment home.