Subject: Re: newcomer needs help

From: [email-masked] (Michael Clark)
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1996 13:09:42 GMT

Pat Rummenie <[email-masked]> wrote:

>I am a naturalist at a nature center where a volunteer took care of an 
>inside hive with viewing windows and outside access for our bees. our 
>volunteer disappeared and I tried to take over. The hive is old, has 
>mildew on it, bees died midwinter in 94 and had diarrhea. last year I 
>cleaned hive, read what I could find and ordered more bees. The queen was 
>laying eggs and then she died and so of course, so did the rest over the 
>summer. I am going to a bee supply place and getting new frames and bees 
>and I do NOT want to kill them off. I was told I need to get a new hive 
>as I cleaned it with soap and a mild (very) solution of bleach to kill 
>the mildew. I thought bleach evaporated. I was told I did a VERY bad 
>thing -and if I did and all you experts hate me, please forgive me -I was 
>trying to do the right thing. having 2 part time jobs, I have not been 
>able to learn as much as I should have before I took on the 
>responsibility of these critters.  i will read your posts to learn more 
>and would like to know if I REALLY have to replace the hive -or just the 
>frames.    Pat
>-- 
>I am one with my duality

It is difficult to tell what is wrong with the bees but at least I can
give you a few things to look for / do:

The bee larvae, before they are capped, should be a pearly white
colour. If they aren't then they could be diseased. Bees can be
effected by bacterial, viral and fungal diseases. If the bees seem
diseased then either post a description on this newsgroup ( and
someone may be able to help) or contact your local government
department who looks after bees.

A strong hive should have cleaned up the mildew themselves (ie if they
were in the hive at the time, you didn't say) but to help them along
you usually tip the hive slightly forwards so that any condensation
and rain runs out of the hive. To convert nectar to honey the bees
have to evaporate a fair amount of water.

The brood needs to be kept fairly warm at about 38 degrees Celsius and
possibly your observation hive may be losing to much heat. The adult
bees will shiver to generate heat to keep the larvea alive but this
will use a lot of their food stores up. Bees need food stores to last
the winter. This includes both honey and pollen(protein source) and so
depending on their stores you may have to feed them. Your local store
should be able to sell you a feeder and a recipe.

Concerning the Chlorine. I don't know the answer. Yes it does break
down in sunlight so I would have thought it would have been ok as long
as you left them out for a few days. If I find any further info I will
let you know

Hope this helps. Good luck
Michael