Using frames from last year

[Katherine Borowski]

We lost two hives in March.  There were no dead bees in the hive and no honey but lots of comb.  We think they must have swarmed.  We've purchased new bees, question is, can we use the frames from last year to give the bees a head start?  If someone can look at the frames, would gladly drive anywhere in western Loudoun!

Thank you for your help

Kathy Borowski

[Ed Kicha]

Hi Kathy,

Your description sounds more like absconded hives rather than swarms; swarms tend to leave a portion of their resources for the donor hive to exist on, as well as about half the hive population. The lack of honey in the hive could be attributed to robbing after the bees departed, particularly if the tops of the comb appears to have ripped-apart with lots of wax pieces on the ground/entrance board or potentially theydid not deposit any nectar/cap honey prior to leaving.

No dead in or around a hive pretty much eliminate conditions which cause acute death (pesticide and/or virulent pathogenic kills). High viral loads from Varroa could cause bees to abscond, but one would expect to see some indication such as dead or deformed bees, and some resources would most likely remain.

As long as your comb is relatively new, I would recommend freezing it for about a week to kill any SHB/wax moth eggs which may be in the cracks and crevasses. At that point let the comb come up to ambient temperture and give it to the bees - they’ll appreciate not having to expend huge amounts of energy to produce new wax.

Having two hives like this adds a bit of mystery, but depending on how close they were to each other the condition(s) that potentially precipitated the bees departure may have impacted both hives (predation, frequent distrubances, other types of agitation, etc.). 

Feel free to drop some pictures of your frames for additional scrutiny, or if there is a file size limitation, you can send to me at ed.kicha@loudounbee.org.

Cheers - Ed

[Katherine Borowski]

Thank you so much Ed for the evaluation and the recommendations!  The frames are only a year old, so I'll freeze them.

Will try to send pictures

Kathy