After the loss of our strong colony in December daily checks were made on the swarm hive. On a weekly basis, the fondant in the crown board was checked and changed; if empty.
Because of the loss of our strong colony monitoring consisted of at least observation of the hive both in the morning and afternoon, weather permitting.
Subsequent checking indicated that there were no dead bees out on the alighting board and no indication of activity around the hive.
Because of this, the hive was opened and on inspecting the brood box it was evident that no bees were alive. Although the stores were not as plentiful as the large colony there were store and capped brood. No indication of varroa infestation was found and the bees although dead appeared to look fine.
Although this colony was thought doubtful to survive the winter it had done better than the strong colony.
Incidentally, talking to other members of our local bee association confirmed that the damp 3 months prior to January had not been good for bees.
Eventually, we found out that a large number of colonies had died. In one instance 11 colonies had become 3 by February. An odd year as other beekeepers were reporting in early March that their bees were already flying and bringing in pollen.
In conclusion, both hives had signs of rain ingress, although not significant. It is possible that this caused the bees a problem in maintaining the temperature of the cluster.
Unfortunately, we did not call on the bee inspector and have only a number of pictures of the hives to make any judgment on the possible cause or causes for the bees dying.
Precautionary measures have been taken to ensure that the hives are clean and free from any disease. In the poly hive, we have cleaned and washed with a strong solution of washing soda and water before air drying. The wooden hive has been cleaned with a blow torch until the wood was an overall scorched colour, particular attention was paid to the corners.
Regardless of condition, all the brood frames in the first hive along with the honey and stores were incinerated. The brood frames in the second hive were stripped of wax, which was destroyed. As the frames were only six months old they were torched to destroy and disease.