Death

In spite of my efforts, the colony died. I went out today to check on them, and the colony had starved.

There were a couple of cells of capped brood and a queen cell. Whether their queen died after laying a few eggs, or they just decided to replace her I couldn't tell.

There was no evidence of disease, and the bees I looked at didn't have any sign of mite problems. I think this last long cold snap just didn't allow them to move enough to get to their own stores or even the candy over the top bars. The population of the colony was enormous, though (I think) for this time of year: nearly 15 frames of bees and dead an inch deep on the bottom board. Maybe our long, warm fall (and combining with the colony that swarmed) just made for a population too large to overwinter easily, though I left them their honey and fed them copiously.

Well, at least I have the five packages on order. Instead of the 7 colonies I'd hoped for, I'll be lucky to get to the fall with 5.